Overview
- The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has organised local mass demonstrations calling for all Saturdays to be declared holidays and banks to adopt a five-day workweek.
- Protests were reported in cities including Bhopal and at a Bank of India site in Kingsway, Nagpur, where organisers said more than 500 staff took part in a rally.
- Union leaders have argued workloads have grown while working patterns set by a 2015 IBA agreement left some Saturdays as full working days, and they cite the 12th Bipartite Settlement as the basis for implementing five-day banking.
- UFBU spokespeople warned they may escalate to an indefinite strike if the government and the Indian Banks' Association do not accept the demand, and there is no reported formal response from either body.
- The campaign involves seven major constituent unions and could affect customers through reduced branch hours and raise political and bargaining pressure on banks and the government if protests widen.