India’s most prominent bank unions like All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) have declared their intent to join the nationwide general strike on February 12, 2025.
The strike will be held along with 10 Central Trade Unions (CTUs) in order to protest against the four new proposed labour codes that were notified by the central government in November 2025. The strike is, as per the protestors, also to oppose the increasing attacks on the working class.
S Nagarajan, general secretary of AIBOA, told ET Wealth Online that his union is extending fraternal support to the CTU strike on February 12, 2026. For this, Nagarajan asked the bank officers not to do the clerical work on the day of the strike.
The general secretaries of AIBEA, AIBOA and BFI wrote a letter, dated January 28, 2026, addressing all the members and units of banks. The letter highlighted the reasons behind their joining the nationwide general strike on February 12, 2026. The listed reasons are as follows:
Opposing labour laws
“The labour codes proposed to be implemented are totally against the workers, and stringent conditions have been prescribed to register trade unions, ” the letter by the general secretaries read.
The letter added that, “More than that, the owner who is employing less than 300 workers in his concern can terminate an employee without seeking the concurrence from the authorities. The move of the government is to support multinational companies as well as owners of small factories/establishments under the name of ‘Ease of Doing Business’.”
5-day work week
The bank unions protested earlier, on January 27, 2026, to demand a five-day work week for bank employees. This demand, as per the letter, will carry over to the nationwide protest on February 12, 2026.
“In all major financial organisations such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), money exchange, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), share market and the Multi-Commodity Exchange of India, it is a five-day work week, but only bank employees work for six days in alternate weeks. We want the government to provide a five-day work week for bank employees as well,” said Nagarajan.
Fixed-term employment
In the letter, the bank unions claimed that, given the high unemployment rate in India, the government should be generating more jobs for the youth. The unions claim that the government’s proposed fixed-term employment scheme might jeopardise the future of youth.
Freedom to hold strikes
The unions have also stated in the letter that it is becoming harder for bank employees to hold strikes. They claimed that employers are being given the freedom to lock out and retrench without the permission of the labour authorities.
