BUSINESS at Apparel Tri-Star factory is back to normal, management announced yesterday.
Stephen Illungole reports that production resumed on Thursday evening after a staff strike which led to the dismissal of 265 employees.
The managing director,
Vellupillai Kananathan, said the company would tomorrow export 70,000 pieces of children’s wear worth $200,000 to California, USA.
He said production output had increased by over 60% between Friday and Saturday. “That shows that the girls are very serious,” Kananathan said yesterday.
He said at least two consignments would be exported weekly till next March.
He said the sacked girls would be replaced with the ones earlier trained but sent back home because they could not be immediately absorbed.
The press secretary to the President, Mrs. Mary Okurut, yesterday said the strike was costly.
“With the kind of exports from Tri Star, you need to meet the quota. With such disruption (strike) you cannot meet the quota. This is international trade where you are competing with others. We are not denying there could be genuine grievances but the aggrieved need to go through the right channels,” Okurut said.
The management at the weekend celebrated the end of the strike by hosting a party to the over 1,239 staff at the Bugolobi factory.
Kananathan said the food, drinks and disco were a reward to the group whom he described as being “the pillars of our operations and very supportive.”
“I want to reiterate that no outside bad influence can stop us in pursuits for continued operations and achieving our goals,” he said.
The employees took the opportunity to eat, drink and dance themselves off deep into the night.
They also held group dances with the expatriate staff.
Kananathan said the employees understood the export targets. He said they accepted to work up to six o’clock.
“They are doing a good job and need to be motivated. These are my children because they care for the company and country,” he said.
Kananathan said the entertainment sessions would be held monthly to reward the employees for their incredible support to the company.
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