CHURACHANDPUR: Bank Employees in Manipur’s Churachandpur district joined a nationwide strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) at the State Bank of India’s main branch on Tedim Road on Friday.
The strike was organised to press for a range of demands, with the immediate implementation of a five-day banking week being one of the key demands of the bank unions.
The UFBU has been seeking government approval to declare Saturdays and Sundays as holidays for banks, following an agreement reached between bank unions and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the 12th Bipartite Settlement in March 2024. The proposal, however, is yet to receive the required government notification.
Under the proposed five-day work week, banking hours from Monday to Friday would be adjusted, including an increase of 40 minutes in daily working hours.
Other demands raised by the unions include withdrawal or resolution of issues related to the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, settlement of long-pending pension-related issues, adequate recruitment of staff and improvements in service conditions.
The UFBU is a common platform comprising seven bank employees’ and officers’ unions — the 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 Officers Congress (INBOC) and Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF).
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The forum represents employees and officers across public sector, private sector, foreign, regional rural and cooperative banks.
As part of its ongoing agitation, the UFBU has announced further strike programmes, including three consecutive days of strike on September 28, 29 and 30.
The unions have also warned of an indefinite nationwide strike from October 26 if their demands are not addressed.
