Bank of Israel workers have expressed their anger at management and the suspension of Banking Supervision Department officials on suspicion of leaking material to the media. The Bank of Israel did not publish representative exchange rates today because of the labor sanctions.
Bank of Israel workers committee chairperson Rimona Leibowitz said, “Yesterday, something happened at the Bank of Israel. The governor summoned bank employees to a meeting, where he accused them of leaking to the media, and suspended them from their posts. This was done even though at the end of the meeting, he told those present that he believed that they were not the source of the leak. This behavior is unacceptable. There is no proportionality.”
Liebowitz added that the workers committee viewed the suspension of the workers as a new peak in management’s unilateral behavior. “I cannot understand the behavior of the bank’s management. Instead of investigating how the supervisor of banks was chosen without the search committee knowing that the Banking Supervision Department was auditing him, the Bank of Israel’s leaders are busy with something truly important: who leaked the existence of the audit to the media.
“For this reason, the bank’s management rushed to suspend workers. Such management is unworthy in labor relations, and definitely not acceptable to the bank’s workers. We won’t let this go quietly.”
In the absence of a labor contract at the Bank of Israel, it has been reported in the past few hours that the workers committee has been meeting legal advisors to decide on the legal steps the committee will take on this issue. At today’s meeting, the workers committee also decided on immediate action. Workers were released two to three hours early from their regular time. Each day, the workers committee will decide on what sanctions to carry out.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 21, 2006
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