Bank HaPoalim, Israel's largest, has announced that it plans to fire 900 workers, or 10% of its workforce. The workers' union of a competing bank, Bank Leumi, has asked Histadrut Labor Union chief MK Amir Peretz to work to thwart the dismissals. "This is a dangerous move," said the workers' representative Louie Roth, "which affects all the workers in Israel. Workers must not be fired merely because the owners are not satisfied with a profit of a billion shekels a year."
Roth said that Peretz said he would do all he could to stop the dismissals - although some in the Histadrut wondered aloud how such an agreement could have been finalized without the union's knowledge. Bank HaPoalim's labor union itself agreed to the firings.