The Malta Union of Bank Employees has instructed APS Bank workers to follow a communications ban tomorrow after talks on the collective agreement reached a stalemate.

The bank, which is Church-owned, showed a lack of understanding of its staff's concerns and held an uncompromising attitude during the discussions, the union claimed in a statement.

The dispute was mainly based on a "clear disagreement" on the employees' financial package. The union was quite reasonable in understanding the bank's proposals but the same could not be said for the bank's attitude about its proposals, the MUBE added.

The union was prepared to close off the agreement during a meeting held on July 31, but it was clearly evident the bank was not in a position to do the same, it added.

The union also directed staff not to attend a meeting "unscrupulously" called by the management for tomorrow afternoon, which falls on the eve of a public holiday, with the collective agreement the main item on the agenda.