Various bank employee unions observed a nationwide strike on Friday to press for their demands. The impact of the strike is visible in the operations of several public sector bank branches in Bathinda.
Due to the strike, customers visiting the branches may face difficulties accessing certain banking services. However, since digital banking, ATMs, and other online services remain operational, routine banking tasks can still be performed through these channels.
**Demand for a five-day banking week**
During the strike, employees urged the central government and bank management to fulfill long-pending demands.
Key demands include the implementation of a five-day banking week and action on issues related to performance-linked incentives, among others. Employees state that while work pressure in the banking sector is constantly rising, there has been inadequate action on many of their demands. Operations at public sector bank branches will not proceed as usual; services such as cash transactions, cheque deposits and payments, document submission, account-related tasks, and other branch-level banking services will be affected. Customers requiring in-person visits to the branch for specific tasks will have to wait until the strike concludes.
**Inconvenience to customers**
Customers visiting public sector bank branches across various parts of the city are being forced to return without getting their work done due to the strike. Those visiting for tasks like cheque processing and document submission are facing particular inconvenience. Asserting that the strike is essential to support their cause, bank employees stated that their struggle would continue until positive steps are taken regarding their demands.
While the strike significantly impacted branch-level operations, tasks performed via digital services—such as online transfers, mobile banking, and internet banking—will continue as usual.
