Last updated: October 23, 2026

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has deferred its three-day nationwide strike planned for 28–30 September 2026, and the indefinite strike threatened from 26 October, after a late-night meeting with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) on 27 September produced an understanding on its three core demands: 5-day banking, the disputed Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Scale IV and above officers, and the long-pending residual issues from the 12th Bipartite Settlement. UFBU stresses this is a deferment, not an abandonment of its demands, and says it will review its action based on progress within a “time-bound process”. The one-day strike on 11 September 2026 had already gone ahead nationwide.

The Three Strike Dates

UFBU’s 23 August 2026 circular sets out a graduated, three-phase escalation rather than a single strike date:

• 11 September 2026 — a one-day all-India strike, the opening phase.
• 28–30 September 2026 — a three-day all-India strike if the first phase produces no resolution.
• 26 October 2026 onward — an indefinite strike, called only if the government and IBA still have not acted by then.

Each phase is explicitly conditional on the outcome of the one before it — UFBU’s stated intent is to escalate step by step rather than jump straight to an indefinite strike, giving the government multiple windows to respond before the disruption becomes open-ended.

Why UFBU Is Striking — The Three Demands

The strike notice bundles together three separate, long-running disputes rather than a single new grievance:

• 5-day banking week: IBA and UFBU agreed in principle to move all bank staff to a 5-day week as part of the December 2023 MOU, formalised in the 12th Bipartite Settlement signed 8 March 2024. Implementation requires a Finance Ministry notification under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act declaring all Saturdays bank holidays — that notification has still not been issued more than two years on, despite a January 2026 one-day strike and August 2026 demonstrations over the same issue. See our full 5-day banking explainer for the complete timeline.
• The PLI dispute for Scale IV+ officers: In March 2026, the Department of Financial Services directed banks to pay officers in Scale IV and above PLI on a graded percentage-of-basic-pay formula, separate from the 5–15 day Basic+DA formula negotiated for everyone else. AIBOC calls this unilateral and discriminatory and has challenged it in the Delhi High Court (next hearing 6 October 2026, no stay granted so far). See our PLI dispute deep-dive for the full background.
• Pension updation and DA for pensioners: UFBU is separately pressing for a permanent revision of basic pension in line with current pay scales (distinct from the one-time ex-gratia payment introduced under the 12th BPS), a uniform dearness allowance formula for pensioners, and an option for NPS-covered employees to move to the Old Pension Scheme. See our pension updation article for the M.C. Singla case and current legal status.

What Customers Should Expect

With the 28–30 September strike and the 26 October indefinite strike both deferred, branches are working normally and customers need not plan around strike dates. Should UFBU revive the programme, a full strike would likely disrupt over-the-counter cash, cheque clearing and other in-person services at public sector bank branches, while ATM, net banking, mobile banking and UPI would keep functioning, as they did on 11 September. Watch for a fresh UFBU strike notice and for bank-level customer advisories, which usually follow closer to any strike date. NOBO and NOBW, which exited UFBU in early August 2026, stayed out of the strike calls.

Timeline — How We Got Here

This strike notice is the culmination of an agitation calendar that has been building for months. A nationwide one-day strike on 27 January 2026 pressed the 5-day banking demand but did not move the government. UFBU dropped from nine to seven constituent unions after NOBW and NOBO formally exited on 6 August 2026. Nationwide demonstrations followed on 12 August 2026, held after office hours in state capitals and major towns, with unions saying they would decide on further action — “including strike action” — depending on the government’s response. That response did not materialise, and UFBU issued its formal strike notice on 23 August 2026, setting the three confirmed dates above. Separately, the PLI dispute has been in the Delhi High Court since March 2026, with no stay granted and the next hearing listed for 6 October 2026 — squarely inside the strike window.

What Happens Next

The strike is off for now, but nothing has been finally settled. What the 27 September understanding changes is the process: 5-day banking moves from a government “under consideration” assurance to a named IBA–UFBU high-level committee tasked with examining all alternatives for declaring the remaining Saturdays holidays and consulting stakeholders. Media reports indicate the options include roughly 40 extra minutes of work per day Monday–Friday, the working-hours trade-off already recorded in the 8 March 2024 Joint Note. The final step still needs Government approval and a notification under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

On PLI, the Finance Ministry on 7 September kept the 19.11.2024 PLI scheme in abeyance for FY 2025-26 and said it would be taken up in the ongoing bipartite discussions. On 27 September IBA agreed that talks on the Scale IV+ scheme can start and that modifications can be proposed to the Government. UFBU has asked that an appropriate relativity be worked out for workmen and officers up to Scale III. AIBOC’s Delhi High Court petition was listed for 6 October 2026; we have not found a published outcome. The residual issues — improvement in PLI, NPS to OPS, pension updation, gratuity, medical insurance, recruitment, uniform business hours, fitment anomalies and others — are recorded as items for bilateral resolution, with no published timeline. If the committee stalls, UFBU can revive the strike programme.

Key Facts at a Glance

Latest Updates

• September 27, 2026 (night) — Strike deferred. UFBU and IBA met at around 9:30 pm and reached an understanding recorded in a proposed MoU: (1) immediate constitution of a high-level IBA–UFBU committee on declaring the remaining Saturdays holidays; (2) IBA agrees talks on the Scale IV+ PLI scheme can begin, with modifications to be proposed to the Government; (3) residual issues from the 8 March 2024 Settlement/Joint Note to be taken up for expeditious resolution. UFBU circular 2026/33 deferred the 28–30 September strike and other agitational programmes, calling it “a deferment… not an abandonment”. (Sources: UFBU circular via AIBOC Circular 2026/71; Sunday Guardian)
• September 27, 2026 — With RBI approval, public sector banks and RRBs kept branches open on Sunday so customers could finish work ahead of the expected strike; UFBU says workmen who attended get overtime at double rate and officers one day’s wage.
• September 23, 2026 — UFBU wrote to IBA objecting that IBA’s communication to PSBs and IDBI Bank sought to “unilaterally enlarge” the categories of staff exempt from industrial action.
• September 7, 2026 — The Finance Ministry kept the PLI scheme dated 19.11.2024 in abeyance for FY 2025-26 and said it would be taken up in the ongoing Bipartite Settlement/Joint Note discussions. (Source: Business Standard)
• September 11, 2026 — The strike went ahead nationwide as scheduled. Public sector bank branch operations were disrupted across the country — over-the-counter transactions, cash handling and cheque clearing were hit, while ATM, UPI, net banking and mobile banking continued functioning normally. Impact varied by region: operations were largely normal in Mumbai, while Maharashtra as a whole saw a near-standstill with UFBU citing over 1 lakh employees/officers participating, and sharper disruption was reported in Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Telangana, Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh, particularly in tier-3/4 towns. UFBU characterised the strike as a success. Because 11 September fell on a Friday ahead of the weekend, with a Ganesh Chaturthi holiday on 14 September in some states, several parts of the country saw up to four consecutive days of branch disruption. (Sources: Business Standard, Deccan Herald, Tribune India, Outlook Money — 11–12 September 2026.)
• September 9, 2026 — A follow-up conciliation meeting, chaired by Chief Labour Commissioner Sonal Mishra, IAS, with DFS and bank management representatives, again failed to produce a concrete outcome on 5-day banking. DFS Joint Secretary Shalini Pandit, IAS, reiterated that the PLI dispute had been “resolved amicably” and that 5-day banking remained under consideration. UFBU said that without a definite decision or timeline it could not defer the strike, and confirmed the 11 September strike would proceed as planned. (Source: HelloBanker, 9 September 2026.)
• September 8, 2026 — A tripartite meeting between DFS, IBA and UFBU (with the Chief Labour Commissioner) took place ahead of the strike. DFS said roughly 50% of union demands had been addressed, cited an expansion of the Staff Welfare Fund from ₹540 crore to ₹845 crore, and said 5-day banking “involves various stakeholders” and remains under consideration with no definite timeline. IBA appealed to unions to reconsider the strike, pointing to the government’s PLI circular as a “positive and forward-looking approach.” UFBU held its position that 5-day banking, agreed in principle in March 2024, remained its principal unresolved demand. No agreement was reached; conciliation was adjourned to 9 September. (Source: HelloBanker, 8 September 2026.)
• Post-11 September — UFBU confirmed the second-phase, three-day strike on 28–30 September 2026 proceeds as originally scheduled, and that the threat of an indefinite strike from 26 October 2026 stands unchanged. No Finance Ministry notification on 5-day banking, and no published DFS/IBA circular detailing the claimed PLI resolution, had appeared as of 16 September 2026.
• September 4, 2026 — IBA (Chief Executive A.K. Goel, Deputy Chief Executive Gopal Murli Bhagat and Senior Advisor-HR&IR Arvind Misra) meets all seven UFBU constituent unions (AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBOC, INBEF) and asks them to defer the 11 September strike in favour of bilateral talks. UFBU rejects the request the same day, saying the issues cannot be delayed further, and confirms the strike proceeds as planned. Because 11 September falls on a Friday immediately before the weekend, and 14 September is a Ganesh Chaturthi holiday in some states, banking services could see disruption across as many as four consecutive days in parts of the country. (Sources: HelloBanker, Latest Bank Update, TheKanal, Outlook Money — 4–5 September 2026.)
• August 28, 2026 — NOBO and NOBW, the two unions that exited UFBU on 6 August 2026, publicly confirm they will not join this strike action. The unions say they will keep pressing 5-day banking and the PLI dispute through their parent body, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), and through direct government engagement instead. (Source: HelloBanker, 29 August 2026.)
• August 23, 2026 — UFBU issues a formal strike notice to IBA and the Chief Labour Commissioner, confirming the three-phase schedule: 11 September, 28–30 September, and an indefinite strike from 26 October 2026 if unresolved. (Sources: Business Today, HelloBanker, ProKerala)
• August 12, 2026 — UFBU holds nationwide after-hours demonstrations in state capitals and major towns over the 5-day banking delay; no strike date announced yet at this stage.
• August 6, 2026 — UFBU formally drops to seven constituent unions after NOBW and NOBO exit.
• July 9, 2026 — A NOBW-NOBO delegation raises the 5-day banking delay directly with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who says implementation is underway and would be resolved soon.
• March–April 2026 — AIBOC’s Delhi High Court challenge to the revised PLI scheme for Scale IV+ officers is heard twice; no stay granted. Next hearing 6 October 2026.
• January 27, 2026 — An earlier one-day nationwide strike over 5-day banking fails to move the government.

This is a fast-moving story. Figures and dates are as reported by the union body and by financial and banking-news outlets; this page will be updated as the strike dates approach and as the government/IBA respond.

Conclusion

The three-phase strike plan was the sharpest escalation in this dispute since the 12th Bipartite Settlement, but only the first phase went ahead. The 27 September understanding replaces strike dates with a committee process on 5-day banking and PLI talks, and the threat of renewed action remains if that process stalls. The next signals to watch are the first meeting of the high-level committee, any IBA proposal to the Government on PLI, and a fresh UFBU circular.