A formal labor dispute declared Monday by the Maof union at Metaf, the fully owned technology and operations subsidiary of Bank Hapoalim, could soon disrupt the bank’s day-to-day activity. Metaf, which employs about 500 workers and serves as the IT and operations arm of the entire banking group, is the engine behind core systems and digital applications.
Under the declaration, unionized employees may begin sanctions and even a full strike starting July 8, if no significant progress is made in talks. The current collective agreement for Metaf employees was signed in July 2023 and expired at the end of 2025. Negotiations to renew it have been going on for more than six months.
The main points of contention are the size of a signing bonus and the workers’ demand for a shorter workday, unlike other bank employees, they work from home two days a week. In a message to workers, union chair Dudu Dahan accused management of blocking progress, adding: “After more than half a year of intensive negotiations, unfortunately we were unable to reach understandings.” He said management had “placed obstacles and new demands” and repeatedly violated the current agreement. Dahan also said, “With a hand on the heart, we did not want to reach this point.”
Bank Hapoalim said Metaf management is conducting “substantive negotiations” with the workers’ committee in order to reach a fair deal for employees and for Metaf during a challenging period. The dispute at Metaf is not the only labor front facing the bank. Two months ago, managers and authorized signatories also sought a labor dispute, but none has been declared so far. Their tensions center on a demand by HR chief Ella Golan to scrap a historic arrangement linking their employment terms to Bank Leumi employees, complaints about 2024 bonus distribution, and the bank’s refusal to regulate the status and workload of clerks given signing authority without a matching job definition. The current state of those negotiations is unclear.
