The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has called for a nationwide two-day strike on March 24 and 25 after discussions with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) failed, a report by PTI stated. This will impact banking operations nationwide.
Per the report, the IBA failed to resolve key demands made by the union which included better recruitment across all cadres, regularisation of temporary employees, and the implementation of a five-day work week in the banking sector.
UFBU is an umbrella body of nine bank unions, including All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), Indian National Bank Employees Congress (INBEC), Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW), National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO).
The PTI report further said that according to National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE) General Secretary L Chandrasekhar, the IBA has not addressed critical issues such as:
- Recruitment in all cadres to address staff shortages.
- Filling of workmen and officer director posts in public sector banks.
- Withdrawal of performance review and incentive directives issued by the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Financial Services (DFS), which unions claim threaten job security.
- Opposition to “micro-management” by the DFS, arguing that excessive intervention undermines the autonomy of bank boards.
- Amendments to the Gratuity Act, seeking an increase in the ceiling to ₹25 lakh, aligning it with government employees’ benefits.
- Exemption of gratuity from income tax.
Further, the report stated that the unions have also opposed a recent directive from the DFS related to performance-linked incentives and reviews. They argued that such measures create uncertainty among employees and should be withdrawn.