SHOCKED workers were sent home in tears minutes after a Bury company announced it was to axe a quarter of its workforce.

Bosses at polythene and paper bag manufacturers Bibby and Baron gave the order to virtually clear two closure-threatened departments and even cut off power to machines after breaking the news of 80 redundancies.

The Dumers Lane-based company, which blames the job losses on cheap imports of polythene products, say many redundancies will hit its polythene extrusion and conversion departments.

According to Peter Collinge, FOC of the GPMU, between 50-80 staff working in these units were ordered home minutes after the shock redundancy announcement.

"They were told if they wanted to report for work, they would be taxed on their wages during the 30-day consultation period but if they left the site they would still get their wages - and tax free.

"Many of those who arrived to begin their shifts were sent away in tears. One lad who was telephoned at 9am and asked to cover for an absent colleague was then told to go home," claimed Mr Collinge.

He added: "The mood here is one of devastation. People just couldn't believe something like this had been dropped on them and were even more amazed when told to clear out straight away. "One minute the extrusion department was running, the next it had virtually closed down."

He also claimed British Polythene Industries (BPI), which owns Bibby and Baron, had themselves contributed to cheap foreign imports of polythene products flooding into the UK.

The union leader said BPI operated a similar business in China - manufacturing polythene products which were now undercutting British firms like Bibby and Baron.

On Tuesday, March 4, and Wednesday, company bosses held assessment sessions at Link House, Bury, to select possible redundancy candidates.

The union say only a handful could be redeployed at other BPI sites.

Bibby and Baron bosses declined to answer questions from the Bury Times but instead issued a statement.

"With the continued growth in sales of imported polythene products in the UK, Bibby and Baron have incurred losses and been forced to review the commercial viability of some of our products", it stated.

Because of this, several uneconomical polythene lines at the factory will be discontinued in favour of other areas which have a better long-term future.

The statement continued: "Unfortunately, the impact of this decision will be the probable loss of many jobs within the polythene extrusion and conversion departments.

"The working practices in other departments will also need to change to accommodate the new structures."

An extensive consultation process with the 330-strong workforce has begun.

Meanwhile, Labour's prospective Parliamentary candidate for Bury North, David Chaytor, has accused management of adopting "jackboot"-style tactics and completely disregarding normal legal procedures for consultation.

He is writing to the managing director asking him to justify the actions of the company in terms of the way redundancies are being implemented.

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