The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), the largest organization of banks in India, has announced a three-day nationwide bank strike from 28 to 30 September.
This strike called for four major demands is expected to have a deep impact on banking services.
Although the Central Reserve Bank (RBI) has asked banks to open on Sunday in view of the inconvenience caused to bank customers, the forum has called it a step taken out of desperation.
The United Forum of Bank Unions claims to represent seven bank unions and around eight lakh employees.
Earlier, the unions had warned that if their demands were not resolved, an indefinite strike could be started from October 26.
The unions say they represent about 90 percent of the employees in the banking sector.
Regarding the instructions of RBI, the Forum has said that there is no clarity regarding opening of banks on Sunday.
The UFBU issued a statement on the issue saying, "Different banks are issuing different types of instructions. We know that our struggle is intensifying and our solidarity is getting stronger because they know that our strike will be successful. The IBA and bank managements are taking these steps out of desperation."
A five-day banking week is the biggest pending demand for bank employees.
Currently, bank branches are closed on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, whereas they normally operate on the first, third and, where applicable, fifth Saturdays.
The unions want all Saturdays to be declared holidays.
Bank employees say that the work pressure in the banking sector is now much higher than before. Therefore banks should have a five day working week.
UFBU has many other demands of which PLI is an important issue.
A demand was also made to make changes in the Performance Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) and bilateral talks on this scheme. It has also been said that other pending issues should be resolved.
Bank unions say that the rules of the current PLI scheme are not right. Instead of providing equal benefits to all employees, these create unnecessary competition and work stress.
This strike is likely to affect business worth Rs 2,000 crore. However, ATM and digital banking facilities will continue during this period.
According to a report in 'Indian Express', Indian Banks Association (IBA), the representative organization of Indian banks, had accepted this demand and sent it to the government for approval, but even after more than two years, no decision has been taken on this proposal.
At present bank employees have to work six days a week.
The unions said that during the wage negotiations, the IBA had agreed to a five-day working week and had accepted the decision to declare Saturday a holiday.
Now the forum says this commitment should be honored and the five-day working day should be implemented.
Rupam Rai, Secretary of All India Bank Officers' Conference, spoke to BBC News Hindi on this issue.
He said, “In the year 2015, the plan to give holiday on the second and fourth Saturday of the month was approved. At that time it was said that going forward all Saturdays will be a holiday."
“A new agreement was going to be signed in the year 2020 but this plan was postponed saying that this is the time of Covid and if it is implemented now, it will send a wrong message.”
He said that the bank managements told us that this proposal has been sent to the government but the government has been continuously postponing it.
Rupam Rai says that meanwhile the work pressure on the public banking sector has increased considerably.
According to him, "A public sector bank employee serves 2000 to 2200 employees whereas a private bank employee serves an average of 350 to 400 employees."
He said, “There are no recruitments in public sector banks but the workload is increasing. This is affecting the family life of the employees."
“Women also work in the banking sector in large numbers. In Indian families, there is pressure on them to take care of the family. This increases the pressure on them further.
Rupam Rai said, “There is pressure on male employees also. Employees are also transferred to remote areas. Problems also increase due to this. Whereas all over the world banks work for five days. RBI itself has a five working day week. In LIC also work is done five days a week.
Performance linked incentives are another important issue. Bank employees say that instead of giving individual incentives, incentives should be given based on the performance of the entire bank.
Giving personal incentives creates unnecessary competition and work stress.
“Bank employees want PLI based on the performance of the bank,” says Rupam Rai. Not on individual performance.
The PLI system was introduced under the 2020 wage agreement.
After this, bank officers' organizations protested against the government's revised PLI scheme for senior bank officers.
The revised PLI covers officers in Grade 4 and above, while keeping lower level officers out of it.
Objections were raised regarding the distribution of incentives.
According to a report in the Indian Express, the timing of the strike is particularly important. 30th September is the half yearly account closing date for banks.
During this period, reconciliation of accounts, provisions and treasury and market related work are important.
The government has warned that a three-day strike immediately following the weekend could lead to widespread disruption to operations.
The biggest impact will be on bank branches, especially the branches of public sector banks.
Cash deposits and withdrawals, check clearance, account operations and other branch level services may be affected.
However, this will not mean that the banking system will stop completely.
UPI, internet banking, mobile banking and ATMs are expected to remain operational.
State Bank of India and other public sector banks have advised customers to complete important work before the strike and use digital means and ATMs during the strike.
Public sector banks and regional rural banks will open on September 27 before the strike from September 28 to 30.
The reason for this is simple. If banks had not opened on Sunday, customers would have faced a three-day strike immediately after the weekend.
Due to this, disruption in banking services could last for five consecutive days.
Therefore, the Finance Ministry tried to ensure that customers get an extra day to complete important banking work before the strike.
On September 27, the Reserve Bank of India has given permission to fully operate bank branches, offices, ATM branches and currency chests.
But the United Forum of Bank Unions has said it is not clear whether September 27 has been declared a working day under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Similarly, it is also not clear whether all banking related operations will be allowed on that day or only refilling of cash in ATMs and use of currency chests will be allowed.
The Finance Ministry has said that the proposal of a five-day banking week is still under consideration and many aspects will have to be kept in mind before taking a decision.
Meanwhile, the government has started preparations for alternative arrangements. The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks and regional rural banks to keep adequate cash in ATMs and take steps to continue essential services during the strike.
In a post on Twitter, the forum said that the turnover and profits of banks are increasing despite less staff, while the work pressure on bankers is continuously increasing.
According to the organization, the net profit of public sector banks was Rs 26 thousand crore in 2020, which will increase by about 7.6 times to Rs 1.98 lakh crore by 2026.
The post said that bank employees should get respect, dignity and better work-life balance for their contributions.
