Bhubaneswar: A fourth Saturday (January 24), followed by a Sunday and Republic Day holiday. Following a three-day bank closure, there could be an extension by one more day.
Customers waiting to visit their respective banks after a longish break in services may have to revise plans as a ceasework is being planned on January 27 (Tuesday).
The proposed nationwide strike on January 27 by bank employees is to push for the implementation of a long-standing demand for five-day work week.
The strike has been called by bank staff unions under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which is pressing the Central government and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to honour an agreement that had been reached during the wage revision settlement in March 2024.
Both sides had agreed in principle to declare all Saturdays as holidays, thereby ensuring a five-day work week. Despite almost two years passing by, the decision is yet to be implemented.
After the recent strike notice, the Chief Labour Commissioner held conciliation meetings with the unions to try and break the deadlock.
However, the talks did not yield any breakthrough.
“Despite detailed discussions, finally there was no positive outcome out of the conciliation proceedings,” UFBU said.
As of now, the unions maintained that the Tuesday strike was on.
If the strike does go ahead, most government banks — State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and other public sector lenders — are likely to be impacted.
Major private sector banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank may not be affected.
