Tiger Brands, one of the biggest manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods in Africa, said on Tuesday that operations at its Albany Bakery in Germiston have resumed following a wildcat strike that resulted in bread shortages across Johannesburg.
“Operations at the bakery in Germiston have now resumed. We are working to restore production to normal and to minimise any further delays in bread deliveries [which have been] experienced in some parts of Johannesburg,” the company told Business Day on Tuesday.
Bread is one of the most commonly consumed foods in the country, with the market dominated by four big players: Tiger Brands (Albany Bakeries), Pioneer Foods (Sasko Bakeries), Premier Foods (Blue Ribbon) and Foodcorp (Sunbake), which reportedly control more than 90% of the industry.
On Tuesday, Tiger Brands, which is valued at about R35bn, said the labour court had declared the strike unprotected on Monday and employees were called to return to work.
The company, however, did not respond to questions about how many employees had participated in the strike, which unions they belonged to, what their grievances were and what action would be taken against them for embarking on the illegal action.
“We remain committed to engaging employees and their recognised representative trade unions to find an amicable resolution to the matter,” Tiger Brands said.
The strike began on Monday last week and on Friday striking workers reportedly attacked an Albany truck as it arrived to deliver bread at a Soweto shopping centre.
When asked for the names of the unions the company was engaging with, a Tiger Brands spokesperson promised to respond later on Tuesday.
When contacted for comment, Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) president Atwell Nazo said: “I’m told that the strike was called by the EFF and that our members were made to join it at the 11th hour. We tried to engage with them [striking workers], but they were so violent, to such an extent that our officials had to run for their lives.”
EFF national spokesperson Vuyani Pambo said he would respond later on Tuesday. The far-Left political party has a labour desk aimed at intervening in all labour-related issues affecting workers.
Tiger Brands is among businesses that were affected by the violent unrest experienced in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in July, forcing the food producer to temporarily close all operations in KwaZulu-Natal, which accounted for the bulk of the more than R150m loss the company suffered as the result of the violence.
Also in July, the company recalled 20-million canned vegetable products because of safety concerns related to potentially defective cans. The move wiped more than R1bn off its market value.
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