SEVEN hundred bakery workers finished a 48-hour strike over jobs, pay and conditions yesterday with the pledge of further action against Gunstones in Dronfield, South Yorkshire.

Managers at Gunstones, which serves high streets across the region, have culled more than 400 jobs and are now attempting to impose a pay freeze on the remaining 700 workers — both shift and overtime pay — citing the redundancy payments as the reason for making savings.

“We’re talking about people on the lower end of the pay scale and yet the company wants to start negotiating to take away some of the terms and conditions such as shift payments (and) overtime payments,” said bakers’ union BFAWU representative John Higgins.

“These are the things that actually make it feasible for people to live from January to December.”

BFAWU has accused Gunstones, part of the 2 Sisters Food Group, of drafting in 200 temporary agency staff that it said were needed as the company “restructured” following the redundancies.

Speaking on the picket line Mr Higgins said: “The atmosphere is good because people are so fed up with how they are being treated, they just don’t care.”

He said he hoped the strike would secure negotiations with management, which in turn said it wanted “meaningful talks.”

The next 48-hour strike is planned for July 17 and 18.