After nearly a year and a half of rumors that a Gulf-based bank was planning a buyout of Banque Nationale du Paris Intercontinentale (BNPI), the president of the Federation of Bank Employee Unions, George Hajj, confirmed the future sale of BNPI’s assets to Bank of Sharjah to form the new Emirati-Lebanese Bank. Union-management talks regarding the affects of the acquisition on BNPI employees went on for over a year, before breaking down on November 30, when BNPI employees began a general two-week strike against all bank branches. A package BNPI offered to employees on December 12 ended the strike on a conditional basis. Management and union leaders continued to hash out details as workers returned to their jobs on December 13. Indemnity packages will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with ceilings set for the total amounts for each person. The December 12 offer by BNP Paribas, BNPI’s Paris-based controlling
