The ALEBA, OGBL-SBA and LCGB-SESF unions today announced that there will be no social plan for employees of Banque Hapoalim in Luxembourg, following a break down in negotiations.
Previous stages of the negotiations of Banque Hapoalim’s social plan led to non-conciliation before the ONC (National Conciliation Office). The above trade unions have put this failure down to the perceived intransigence of the employers' representatives, who were reportedly unwilling to compromise or change their proposals.
In any case, a long process of negotiations seemed to be leading to a potential "acceptable" agreement between the parties involved. However, at the end of the negotiations, the employer's willingness to impose a Sine qua non clause to the almost finished social plan changed everything and led the parties to contact the Conciliator. This clause, which had not been previously discussed, would have required employees to collaborate fully with the Bank and its legal advisers, for life. Moreover, the employer would have reserved the right to require the reimbursement of the allowances granted in the social plan if the employee did not collaborate in the manner imposed on him/her by the leaders of the Bank and its lawyers.
The trade unions ALEBA, OGBL-SBA and LCGB-SESF have therefore strongly denounced Hapoalim's attitude, which the former parties consider evidence that the bank is unwilling to respect the law as well as the rights of employees.
Consequently, the unions have announced that, for the reason listed above and a lack of agreement with the ONC, there will be no social plan for employees of Bank Hapoalim.
