Clover may shut plant, cut jobs

Johannesburg - South Africa's Solidarity labour union said on Wednesday Clover SA, the country's biggest dairy company, plans to shut its Wesselsbron cheese factory by the end of May and lay off 92 workers.

Solidarity said in a statement Clover had informed the union that it would close down the factory due to the high production cost of bulk cheese, but the union said it would seek talks with Clover to stop the job cuts.

It said the company had suggested averting the lay-offs by stopping new recruitments for vacant positions and offering voluntary severance and pension packages to employees.

The privately owned Clover was not immediately available to comment.

The dairy firm is one of seven companies being investigated by South African competition authorities for fixing milk prices.

- Reuters