The lay-offs follow two months of negotiations with the workers and the Histadrut.
Delta Galil Industries (Nasdaq: DELT; TASE: DELT) will fire 500 of the 2,500 workers employed at the company’s six facilities in Carmiel. Carmiel district representatives of the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) and Delta Galil’s management signed a special collective agreement to this effect during the course of negotiations over the past two months.
Delta Galil said that the agreement signed with the Histadrut and the workers committees was part of a general streamlining process designed to cut costs and improve the group’s competitiveness in order to adapt to changes in the company’s target markets around the world.
Delta Galil finished the first quarter of 2005 with a $3 million loss, compared with $4.1 million profit in the first quarter of 2004, despite a 14% rise in sales to $173 million.
According to Israel National Employment Service (INES) figures, there were 2,103 jobseekers in Carmel in June 2005, with an unemployment rate of 5.3%, and 2,199 jobseekers in January-June 2005, with an unemployment rate of 5.5%.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on July 25, 2005