Fifteen unionised BGA warehouse workers were frozen out of their jobs yesterday.

The wholesale company announced the laying off of 15 employees as a result of a decision to get out of the frozen foods business.

The redundancies take effect today with the workers being given one-month's wages in place of notice, BGA confirmed.

One angry worker, who did not want to be named, complained yesterday he had been given only one day's notice and threatened "there's going to be an explosion''. Other workers were fuming too.

When contacted, Bermuda Industrial Union shop steward Mr. Denton Flood said he had no comment on the situation. And he would "rather not say'' how long the laid-off workers had been employed at BGA.

BGA Group of Companies president and chief executive officer Mr. Robert Skelly said the company had discussed the lay-offs with the Bermuda Industrial Union.

"The (BIU) leadership wanted to be sure the economics were correct and the way we calculated the redundancy pay was fair and equatable which I can assure it was,'' he said. "We followed all guidelines of the Bermuda Employer's Council.'' He added the company had paid the 15 workers more than it was contractually bound to.

The workers affected were mostly Bermudian men, he said.

BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Skelly said BGA was getting out of selling frozen foods to concentrate on its lucrative "core businesses'', which included pharmaceuticals, health and beauty products, magazines, newspapers and grocery items.

The decision to pull out of selling frozen foods was announced two weeks ago.

Over the past few years, BGA has expanded its wholesale food distribution operations with the 1991 purchase of Weldon Ltd., a major food importer, and the 1992 acquisition of Purvis Distributors, a well-known supermarket supplier.

Frozen food brands BGA carried included Hillshire Farms, Mrs. Smith's pies, Sara Lee and the Swift Eckrich line of processed meats and Butterball turkeys.

Mr. Skelly said at the time the company's frozen food and food service product lines were being sold to competitors Bermuda Import and Export Ltd., Butterfield and Vallis and Dunkley's Dairy.

After the transfer of the product lines the company will no longer be the Island's largest wholesaler.

BGA is the importing and wholesale subsidiary of BDC Ltd., which also owns the Phoenix drug stores.