Israel Discount Bank hires Ofer Eini as Employee Relations Consultant
Former Chairman of the Histadrut Labor Federation hired by Discount management to advise bank in struggle against workers' committee
Ofer Eini, the former chairman of the Histadrut Labor Federation, has been hired by Discount Bank to serve as a consultant on employee to management on labor relations matters, Israeli financial news daily Calcalist reported Thursday.
Eini, who resigned as head of the Histadrut workers union last May, had been in charge of employee representation – now, with his new role, he is standing on the side of management.
The labor dispute between the Israel Discount Bank management and the bank's workers is not recognized as official, but the release of the bank's strategic plan has raised the level of tension between the two parties, as the workers were unhappy with the fact that they had not been consulted in its drafting.
Last August, in conjunction with the publication of the annual reports, Discount Bank published the strategic plan that the management had been developing since Asher-Topilsky was named as its new chief executive officer last February. As part of a new strategy, Discount said it would eliminate more than 1,000 jobs, including 600 by the end of 2019, most of them via an early retirement scheme.
In an effort to cut costs and streamline its operations, Discount had then said it would reduce its real estate holdings, cut expenses and close a number of the 225 branches it has in Israel.
