Bhubaneswar: Bank employee unions have announced a nationwide strike on January 27 to press for their long-pending demand for a five-day work week. 

If the strike goes ahead, public sector banking operations are likely to be disrupted for three consecutive days, as January 25 and 26 are holidays.

Customers alerted by public sector banks

Most public sector banks including State Bank of India have already issued advisories to customers, warning of possible disruption in banking services in view of the proposed strike.

SBI notice

Conciliation talks fail

The decision to proceed with the strike comes after conciliation meetings held by the Chief Labour Commissioner on Wednesday and Thursday failed to yield any concrete outcome. Confirming the move, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) said the nationwide strike on January 27 will go ahead as scheduled.

"The conciliation held on 23.01.2026 has once again failed to deliver a concrete outcome. Hence, the All India Bank Strike on 27th January 2026 is on," the United Forum Bank Unions, an umbrella organisation of 9 unions of officers and employees said in a statement on X. 

Demand for five-day work week

At present, bank employees get the second and fourth Saturdays off each month, in addition to Sundays. The demand to declare all Saturdays as holidays was agreed in principle between the Indian Banks’ Association and UFBU during the wage revision settlement in March 2024.

Unions cite parity with other institutions

The UFBU has expressed disappointment over the government’s lack of response, stating that the move would not result in loss of man-hours as employees have agreed to work an additional 40 minutes daily from Monday to Friday. The unions pointed out that institutions such as the RBI, LIC, GIC, stock exchanges and government offices already follow a five-day work week.

Private banks unlikely to be affected

The strike is expected to mainly impact public sector banks, while branches of major private sector banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are unlikely to be affected.