India’s bank unions have deferred their planned three-day nationwide strike after a late-night meeting with bank managements on September 27.

The United Forum of Bank Unions, which represents officers and employees across banks, called off the September 28-30 strike following talks with the Indian Banks’ Association. Banks will function normally through the earlier strike period.

The two sides agreed to set up a high-level committee to examine the long-standing demand for a five-day banking week. The panel will look at declaring all remaining Saturdays as holidays, consulting stakeholders including customers.

The meeting also covered changes to the performance-linked incentive scheme for senior officers and other pending demands from the March 2024 wage settlement. The unions stressed that the deferment is not a withdrawal of their demands.

The unions had also threatened an indefinite strike from October 26, which has been deferred too. Why it matters: the strike would have frozen branch services across the country during the festive season.