Shimla, Sep 11 (PTI) The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) 's call for a nationwide bank strike received widespread support in the state capital and other parts of Himachal Pradesh, with over 300 bank employees and officers participating in a protest demonstration near the DC Office in Shimla.

Banking services were affected in several parts of the state on Friday as employees resorted to a one-day strike, expressing their resentment over the delay in implementing a five-day banking system.

Bank employees and officers participated in large numbers to support their long-pending demands, particularly the implementation of a five-day banking system. Representatives from various banks and affiliated unions attended the event to express their solidarity with the strike.

"The bank employees were compelled to resort to a strike to press for their legitimate demands," said UFBU State Convener Narendra Sharma and All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) State President Ashutosh Sharma in a statement issued here.

"An agreement regarding the five-day banking system had been reached between the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and bank unions in March 2024. However, despite more than two and a half years having passed since the agreement, it has not been implemented and there is resentment among the employees", the statement said.

Union representatives pointed out that a five-day work system is already in place in numerous institutions, including Central Government offices, district offices, courts, Income Tax offices, the stock market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). These institutions also offer alternative service arrangements on weekends.

Under the March 2024 agreement, the unions had agreed to a 40-minute increase in daily working hours to ensure that the total banking hours available to customers would not decrease, despite declaring Saturdays as holidays.

Additionally, the UFBU has raised objections to the unilateral and discriminatory Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The union has demanded meaningful discussions through bilateral talks to resolve this issue, along with other pending matters concerning the banking sector.

The UFBU announced that if the pending issues are not resolved, it will hold another strike on September 28, 29, and 30. Furthermore, an indefinite strike has been called starting October 26, 2026, should there be no positive action on the demands even after that. PTI BPL MR