Banning order against ex-staff

PREMIER Foods Group has obtained an interim order banning its former employees from coming within 150m of its bakery and depot in Port Elizabeth.

This follows a petrol bomb attack last week on a closed Blue Ribbon bakery in Walmer. Blue Ribbon is owned by Premier Foods Group. The interim order was granted by the Port Elizabeth Labour Court on Friday.

The decision also comes after 50 former workers protested at the Blue Ribbon Korsten depot last Monday due to retrenchment packages offered.

The protest action was followed by three petrol bombs thrown into the Heugh Road bakery at about 2.20am on Thursday. Gunshots were fired at a security guard on duty at the time.

The order will be made final should the Food and Allied Workers Union fail to oppose the interim order by March 24.

The Premier group invested millions of rands into Port Elizabeth when it launched into the regional bread market in 2014.

But it is now consolidating its Eastern Cape operations and has shut down production in the city.

Premier Foods Group wants to retrench 61 workers across the province, eight of whom are in East London and eight in King William’s Town.

While the company has decided to shift its production to East London, it plans to continue supplying Blue Ribbon and other brands via the Korsten depot.

Premier spokeswoman Siobhan O’Sullivan said it was always their intention to resolve the strike amicably.