Bank Strike March 2025: Are Banks Open Or Closed On March 24? Here's All You Need To Know
The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), a key UFBU member, confirmed in a statement on the weekend that a successful pacfication meeting was held between stakeholders last week.
Ahead of the financial year-end, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has decided to postpone the nationwide bank strike initially planned for March 24 and 25, 2025. The decision followed constructive discussions on key issues, including a five-day workweek.
The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), a key UFBU member, confirmed in a statement on the weekend that a successful pacfication meeting was held last week. The UFBU is a coalition made up of nine bank unions.
Representatives from the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Union Ministry of Finance, and the Central Labour Commissioner (CLC) attended the discussions. The meeting focused on addressing the unions’ demands, reported Business Standard.
A DFS joint secretary joined via video call and relayed details of a conversation between the Finance Minister and the DFS secretary regarding the five-day working week proposal for bank employees.
Additionally, the IBA suggested further dialogue on recruitment, performance-linked incentives (PLI), and other concerns raised by the unions. Given the positive progress, the strike was postponed for at least one to two months. "Units are thus informed that our strike on 24th and 25th is postponed," AIBEA stated.
The next meeting between the stakeholders is scheduled for the third week of April. Meanwhile, the CLC assured that he would oversee the discussion of key discussions, including the five-day workweek demand.
Are Banks Open or Closed Today?
With the strike called-off for now, banks across the country will continue to operate normally today on March 24, 2025. All the physical branches of the banks will remain open for the public.
However, more bank holidays are lined up in the coming week, with banks scheduled to remain closed on March 27 and 28 in Jammu and Kashmir on the account of Shab-I-Qadr and Jumat-ul-Vida respectively.
Further, banks across the country except Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram will also observe a holiday on March 31 to celebrate the festival of Ramzan-Id (Id-Ul-Fitr) (Shawal-1)/Khutub-E-Ramzan.
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Major Concerns Of The Bank Unions
The unions emphasised the need for sufficient recruitment across all levels, stricter laws to safeguard bank employees from assaults, and the expansion of the National Pension System (NPS) active-choice fund across all banks. Additionally, they urged the withdrawal of recent performance review guidelines introduced by the DFS.
Despite the postponement of the strike, bank employees remain firm on their demands. L Chandrasekhar, General Secretary of the National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), underscored the pressing concerns, including workforce shortages, board representation for employees, and the rollback of certain performance-linked policies. Unions have also opposed the DFS’s alleged micromanagement, arguing that excessive intervention undermines the autonomy of bank boards. Another critical demand includes amending the Gratuity Act by raising the gratuity ceiling to Rs 25 lakh and securing tax exemptions on gratuity payouts.
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