Chennai, September 26, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India in Tamil Nadu have extended support to the nationwide three-day bank strike scheduled from September 28 to 30, with the Left parties urging the Centre to resume negotiations with bank employees and officers over their long-pending demands.
CPM Tamil Nadu secretary P. Shanmugam said the earlier one-day strike on September 11 had not resulted in talks between the Centre, bank management and employee representatives.
He urged the Union government to intervene before the three-day strike begins and warned that an indefinite strike has also been announced from October 26 if the issues remain unresolved.
A key demand of the employees is the introduction of a five-day working week. Shanmugam said the bank management and employees’ federation had jointly submitted a memorandum on the issue to the Centre in March 2025, but no decision had been taken.
The employees’ federation is also seeking the filling of vacant positions, regularisation of temporary workers, an end to outsourcing, defined pension benefits and changes to what it describes as discriminatory provisions related to performance-linked incentives.
Shanmugam also alleged that employees and officers were being pressured to stay away from the strike and called on the Centre to begin negotiations.
“The Centre must stop applying pressure and begin negotiations aimed at a settlement,” he said.
CPI Tamil Nadu secretary M. Veerapandian also backed the proposed strike, saying the All India Bank Employees and Officers Federation had called the three-day action over demands that had remained unresolved for several years.
He urged the Centre to engage with the federation instead of adopting what he described as a “threatening approach”.
Both Left leaders called for negotiations before the September 28-30 strike and urged the government to work towards a settlement to avert the proposed indefinite strike from October 26.
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