The Ministry of Finance has appealed to employees of Public Sector Banks and Regional Rural Banks to maintain uninterrupted banking services. This comes after union organisations called for strikes over two demands: the introduction of a five-day workweek and withdrawal of the Performance Linked Incentive scheme.
The Government has already suspended the PLI scheme, addressing one of the two main union demands. However, strikes have been called for 11 September 2026, followed by a three-day strike from 28 to 30 September 2026, and an indefinite strike from 26 October 2026, over the remaining demand for five-day banking.
What the Government has already done
In recent years, the Government has implemented several measures for bank employee welfare:
- Increased salaries and allowances with new pay scales across all cadres
- Enhanced Staff Welfare Fund by 56% in August 2024 for health expenses, canteen subsidies, sports, cultural and educational assistance
- Increased executive positions at senior levels
- Recruited approximately 4,82,800 employees between FY 2014-15 and FY 2025-26, with recruitment doubling in the last three years
- Streamlined promotion processes and improved transfer policies with location preferences
- Introduced special leave provisions for women employees, including menstrual leave and adoption-related leave
- Revised family pension for retirees and introduced monthly ex-gratia payments
- Upgraded medical insurance for retired employees
- Started advance negotiations for wage settlements ahead of the November 2027 deadline
What this means for you
If the scheduled strikes proceed, banking services will be disrupted at a critical time in the financial calendar. The 28-30 September period coincides with half-yearly bank closing, a sensitive time for financial reconciliation and treasury operations. Combined with the preceding weekend, this would create an effective five-day closure, affecting customers, businesses, government transactions and international banking operations. The Government argues that since one major demand has been met and numerous welfare measures already implemented, employees should resolve remaining issues through dialogue rather than strike action.