250-300 IDBI Bank staff in Pune strike over LIC stake sale

Between 250 and 300 IDBI Bank employees walked out on a two-day protest in Pune on Monday against the proposed sale of a 60.72% stake in the bank by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to a private investor. The action, organized by the United Forum of IDBI Officers and Employees (UFIOE), Pune branch, is taking place outside the SBI Treasury Office in the Collector's office compound and forms part of a nationwide agitation against the deal.

The stakes for the workforce are concrete. Employee representatives say the bank employs around 22,000 people who fear the transaction could erode job security, existing service conditions, pension entitlements and retirement benefits. For HR leaders at any employer contemplating ownership change, the episode is a case study in what happens when deal mechanics outrun workforce communication.

What are the employees demanding?

The protesting staff have put forward four key demands. The central ones are twofold:

• Retention of IDBI Bank's public sector character, or, failing that, a guarantee that the government keeps at least 51% ownership.
• Legally binding assurances that existing employees' salaries, seniority, service conditions, pension and retirement benefits remain protected until retirement.

The distinction matters. A verbal comfort letter and a legally enforceable covenant produce very different post-deal outcomes for payroll, pension liability and retention planning.

Why do employees say the valuation is wrong?

At the heart of the protest sits an argument about who created the value now being sold. IDBI Bank returned to profitability after receiving public funds for its revival during a period of financial distress — and employees argue their labor was the recovery's engine.

"It was the bank employees who engaged with the customers to get deposits at the time when the lender was in financial distress, and the non-performing assets (NPA) were at a record high of 32%. The bank has returned to the black because of the efforts of its employees," Devidas Tuljapurkar, joint secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, told the protesting employees.

The figure is the protest's anchor. A 32% NPA ratio (non-performing assets — loans on which borrowers have stopped making payments) placed the bank among India's most stressed lenders. Employees who recruited deposits through that period now question both the sale's logic and its price, since the asset being valued is one they say they rebuilt.

What stays open during the strike?

Customer-facing disruption is limited, at least officially. The lender said on the social media platform X that online banking channels will remain fully operational during the strike. Branch service in the affected regions may still feel the two-day absence of several hundred staff.

For people-operations teams, that split — physical walkout, digital continuity — mirrors the pattern now standard in Indian banking disputes: visible street pressure paired with an assurance to customers that the pipes keep running.

What comes next?

The Pune action is one node in a nationwide agitation, and the four demands give negotiators a specific checklist: ownership floor, salary protection, seniority, and pension terms through retirement. Whether the government and LIC respond with statutory guarantees or quieter assurances will likely decide whether the two-day strike stays at two days — and whether 22,000 employees spend the deal period planning careers or exits.