German firm Leoni will close a car cable system plant employing 2,700 people in the northern Tunisian town of Mateur, due to labor problems, a company spokesman said on Feb. 10.
"After consultations with the management in Germany, we decided to close the subsidiary... which employs 2,700 people, due to anarchic sit-ins and strike threats which have caused supply delays," said Mohamed Hedi Bougra.
Bougra said the decision was "definitive."
"No more negotiations are possible now and the situation has become untenable," Wissem Boujemaa, head of human resources, told Mosaique FM radio.
"It's a catastrophe for Mateur", a local unionist said, referring to the town located about 37 miles northwest of Tunis.
The Nuremberg-based firm set up base in Tunisia in 1977 and employs 12,000 people in the country. It has other factories in the north African country.
Leoni also manufactures optical fibers, wires and cable systems.
It employs about 56,000 people in 34 countries.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
