“The firm said in a statement to the stock exchange that a
minority of workers had threatened other employees with
violence, preventing them from working, too.
.Many Egyptian workers, emboldened by the uprising that
toppled President Hosni Mubarak, have gone on strike demanding
better wages and conditions. Most of the strikes have died down,
but sporadic outbursts continue .Kabo, one of the earliest public firms to be privatised, has
been reorganising itself and listed on the stock exchange in
1997. It has trimmed its workforce and streamlined operations .”
“Management was surprised by new demands raised by workers,
particularly in that … the administration had already
responded to all the workers’ demands,” Chairman Amr
el-Sharnoubi, appointed in September 2009, wrote in the
statement .”
Sharnoubi said the firm had already given workers a 15
percent raise, more allowances, provided all temporary workers
with permanent contracts and promoted about 1,500 employees. He
said the changes cost the firm about 9 million pounds annually…Kabo, which has retail outlets in Egypt under its flagship
brand Jil, has also been unable to deliver products to the local
market worth 3.5 million pounds because of the strikes, the
statement added.
The firm’s board has been in “constant convention” since
Aug. 21, the statement added, saying the new demands would be
shown to the firm’s general assembly to take necessary decisions
that “would protect the firm and its shareholders” .”
Kabo is 49 percent owned by Amwal Al Arabia, the textiles
arm of Arab Cotton Ginning Co and sister company Egypt
Ginning. Kabo owns Wave, a local apparel retailer, and has a
stake in Alexandria Spinning and Weaving .”
Its shares were unchanged on Thursday. The stock has fallen
27 percent this year, compared with a 35 percent drop by Egypt’s
benchmark EGX30 index.”
Date:8/29/2011
Source:www.inteletex.com