Negotiations between the workers committee and management of First International Bank of Israel (TASE: FTIN1;FTIN5) broke down then resumed. Bank chairman Jack Elaad made a u-turn after initially insisting there could be no talks while the bank was on strike.

Clerks committee chairman Hanoch Livneh claimed after the first meeting this morning that broke down that the position of the bank's chairman contradicted the court order to resume talks. He said, "The main reason for the strike is the absence of the management's readiness to conduct negotiations. Representatives of the management refused to discuss certain issues that are at the heart of the dispute so we had no alternative but to strike - conducting negotiations in good faith will bring about the end of the strike before long."

The meeting, which was also attended by the bank's CEO Smadar Barber-Tsadik, was convened following an order last night by the Haifa District Labor Court to conduct intensive negotiations to resolve the crisis which has been disrupting the activities of First International Bank and its subsidiary Bank Otsar Hahayal over the past month.

First International Bank's share price fell 1.7% in afternoon trading today to NIS 61.50, only the second time that the share has fallen since the strike began.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 12, 2010

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010