Bank Employees to Strike on September 11 Over Pending Demands

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has called a nationwide bank strike on September 11, 2026, after talks with the Indian Banks' Association on September 4 failed to resolve their demands. UFBU, made up of seven unions, says it represents over 90% of employees across public, private, foreign, and cooperative banks. The union says the strike is happening because its demands have been pending for a long time.

Since the strike falls on a Friday, followed by the weekend, and September 14 is also a holiday in some states for Ganesh Chaturthi, banking work could be disrupted for four days in a row in many parts of the country. Public sector banks will be affected the most, while online and mobile banking are expected to keep working normally.

The main reason behind the strike is the delay in implementing a five-day work week, which the IBA already agreed to back in March 2024. Under that plan, employees would work slightly longer hours from Monday to Friday in exchange for all Saturdays off. Unions are also unhappy with the government's new performance-linked incentive scheme, saying it's unfair, since senior officers can get bonuses equal to a full year's salary while junior officers get only 15 days' pay. Long-pending pension issues are also part of their demands.

If these issues aren't resolved, unions have already announced a three-day strike from September 28 to 30, and an indefinite strike starting October 26. Several banks, including Bank of India, have already informed stock exchanges about the strike notices. While they say they'll try to keep branches running smoothly, they've also warned that services could be affected if the strike goes ahead.