Banks Shut for 4 Days; Strike on Jan 27 After Talks Fail

Jan 24, 2026 - Negotiations between office bearers of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) and the government on Friday (January 23) in Delhi has failed. As a result, the nationwide bank strike scheduled for January 27 will go ahead. This will lead to banks remaining closed for four consecutive days, from Saturday to Monday.

Already Saturday and Sunday are weekly bank holidays and Monday is a public holiday on account of Republic Day. With bank employees being on strike on Tuesday, banks will stay shut for four consecutive days.

UFBU Convenor DK Jain said the forum had issued a strike notice for January 27 demanding government approval for implementation of a five-day work week in banks. Following this, conciliation talks were held in Delhi on Friday under the mediation of the Central (Chief) Labour Commissioner, involving representatives of the Central Finance Ministry, the Indian Banks’ Association and UFBU.

However, the talks failed reportedly due to no concrete assurances given by the Finance Ministry representatives. Consequently, the UFBU has announced its decision to proceed with the strike on January 27, under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The strike is expected to start from midnight of January 26 and will end at midnight of January 27.

The UFBU is an umbrella body made up of nine unions of bank employees. The introduction of a five-day week in banks has been a long-standing demand by bank workers, since 2015.

Source: Media Reports

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