Banking operations across India may be affected in September after the United Forum of Bank Unions announced a series of nationwide strikes over several long pending demands. The issues include the introduction of a five day banking week and objections to the revised Performance Linked Incentive scheme proposed by the government. The UFBU, which represents more than 90 per cent of the banking workforce in the country, has announced a nationwide strike for September 11. Another three day strike is scheduled from September 28 to September 30. The unions have also warned of an indefinite strike beginning October 26, 2026, if their concerns are not addressed, ANI reported. The United Forum of Bank Unions consists of seven organisations, namely AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBOC and INBEF. These unions represent employees working in public sector banks, private banks, foreign banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks. One of the key demands concerns the introduction of a five day working week in banks. The unions said the Indian Banks' Association had accepted the proposal as part of the 12th Bipartite Settlement and 9th Joint Note, which were signed on March 8, 2024. According to the proposed system, bank employees would extend their working hours by 40 minutes from Monday to Friday. This would allow Saturdays to be declared holidays for bank employees. The UFBU said the proposal was later sent to the government for approval but has remained pending for more than two years. The unions have also highlighted that organisations such as the Reserve Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation, General Insurance Corporation and NABARD already operate under a five day working system. They have argued that customer service would not be impacted because the additional working time during weekdays would compensate for the Saturday holiday. Another major point of disagreement is the revised Performance Linked Incentive formula applicable to senior bank officers. The unions said the earlier system offered performance based incentives equivalent to between one and 15 days of wages, depending on the overall performance of a bank. Under the revised system introduced for officers from Scale IV to Scale VII, the incentive could go as high as 365 days of wages. According to the unions, this provision applies to nearly 40,000 officers, representing around 5 per cent of the banking industry's approximately 8 lakh employees. The remaining 95 per cent of employees would continue to receive a maximum incentive equivalent to 15 days of wages. The disagreement has continued despite several rounds of discussions between the concerned parties. The unions said the government once again instructed banks to move ahead with implementation on August 21, 2026. The issue, however, is still being considered by the Chief Labour Commissioner as well as the Delhi High Court. Apart from these matters, the UFBU has also highlighted unresolved pension related concerns and other service issues affecting bank employees. Union representatives said the latest round of protests became necessary because of what they described as continued actions by the government and bank managements. If the issues remain unresolved, the unions have indicated that the scheduled September strikes could be followed by an indefinite nationwide strike from October 26, 2026.