CAIRO: Last week, hundreds of employees from Egypt's largest ceramics manufacture Cleopatra Ceramics blocked streets in downtown Cairo by the country's top appellate court in protest to continued labor disputes with management. Now, the company's chief Mohamed Abul-Enein told the state-run al-Ahram newspaper that he will liquidate his the company, saying that the continued “stress” with dealing with workers was the cause for the company's end. The company, the world's largest ceramics manufacturer with over 900 million square feet produced annually, has seen a number of labor disputes, strikes and protests since a popular uprising ousted former President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Workers, however, are fearful that the move could mean issues regarding their pay and severance could be left aside, unless the court intervenes. Cleopatra Group's media department said Abul-Enein will close all factories and let go of his investments “to focus on his personal life.” Ahmed Salah, the deputy head of the workers syndicate at the company's Suez factory, was quoted by al-Ahram as saying that employees would “welcome” Abul-Enein's decision if it would lead to the nationalization of factories, located in Suez and 10th Ramadan City. It is unclear what will happen to the company or its workers. Abul-Enein has been listed on a travel ban by the country's top prosecutor.
