Bank strike September 28-30: PSU banks appeal to employees to refrain from joining strike

With the proposed threeday nationwide strike commencing on Monday September 28 several banks including Punjab National Bank Indian Bank and Bank of India among others have appealed to their employees to refrain from participating in the strike to ensure banking services are not disruptedOn a social media post on X Punjab National Bank said Generations have placed their trust in banking that stands by them We honour that trust with dependable service and a commitment to putting customers firstrdquo Let the dialogue continue Let the banking continue the lender addedIt appealed to its employees to refrain from participating in the strike as it could cause significant inconvenience to customers and general publicAn Appeal to all PNBians Let us provide uninterrupted banking services to our customers DFS_India FinMinIndia PNB PunjabNationalBank CustomerConvenience BankingServices httpstco3kgiqKtmxRmdash Punjab National Bank pnbindia September 23 2026Similarly in a series of posts Bank of India maintained that customers should be prioritisedFor millions of customers uninterrupted access to banking services is essential mdash and keeping their needs at the forefront remains our priority As we move forward together lets continue to put our customers first and help ensure continuity of the banking services they depend on every day Bank of India saidWhy are bank unions going on strikeThe United Forum of Bank Unions UFBU on Tuesday said it had decided to proceed with the threeday nationwide strike beginning September 28 as a conciliation meeting before the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner remained inconclusiveThe conciliation meeting was held after the Finance Ministry appealed to bank employees to refrain from resorting to strikes and to resolve their remaining demands through dialogueResponding to the appeal made by the Department of Financial Services DFS Indian Banks Association IBA Bank managements to defer the strike we informed them that if there is any concrete and positive development towards implementation of our demand for introduction of 5 days banking UFBU will consider the same UFBU said in a statement on TuesdayUFBU which claims to represent 90 per cent of the banking workforce said it will be constrained to go ahead with the proposed strike on September 28 29 and 30Earlier bank unions under UFBU had gone on a nationwide strike on September 11 over the implementation of fiveday working week and other demands that also include an update and improvement of pension a uniform dearness allowance formula for all pensioners and an option for employees covered under the National Pension System NPS to switch to the old pension scheme OPSThe government has assured that it remains committed to the welfare and wellbeing of bank employees and to addressing their genuine concerns through constructive engagement according to a Ministry of Finance statement on MondayImpact on customersTo minimise the impact of the strike the government on Wednesday said Public Sector Banks and Regional Rural Banks will remain open on Sunday September 27 Without this intervention the banking services could have been disrupted for five days as September 26 is a fourth Saturday and September 27 is a SundaySeveral public sector banks including the countrys largest lender State Bank of India as well as Indian Bank among others had earlier advised their customers to complete important transactions prior to the threeday strike commencing on September 28 and use mobile and digital banking services and ATMS during the strikeDuring the strike online and digital banking services Unified Payments Interface UPI transactions cash withdrawals through ATMs and cash deposits through deposit machines would be available