The Histadrut declared a labor dispute at Union Bank of Israel following reports of merger negotiations by the bank's controlling shareholders with Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. The Histadrut and the Union Bank workers' committee are calling on Union Bank's management and shareholders to negotiate with them immediately and reach agreement about the consequences of a possible merger for the workers' rights before signing an agreement with Mizrahi Tefahot. The committee and the Histadrut are demanding that the workers' rights, employment security, and wage agreements be preserved in the framework of the merger, but of course the purpose of the merger is to cut costs. The declaration of a labor dispute means that the clerks' committee and managers' committee can begin labor sanctions in two weeks. The Mizrahi Tefahot workers' committee is already in its second day of labor sanctions. The committee called on the workers to continue the strike, while the bank's management is claiming that most of its branches were open. The poor state of relations there led to a petition by the workers' committee to the Labor Tribunal alleging that the bank's managers were threatening the workers to keep them from cooperating with the strike. An announcement on the subject sent to the workers by the bank's managers was attached to the petition. The Mizrahi Tefahot workers committee is demanding that Labor Tribunal bar management from employing such measures, and allow committee representatives to enter branches during the sanctions. The committee also called on the workers to go on strike on August 4, 2017 and August 6, 2017.