Pubs could be left with no beer on Christmas or New Year's Eve after brewery workers announced they will be on strike, according to Unite The Union. Union members at Greene King's brewery will begin striking on December 21.
Unite members - of which there are 188 - will strike between December 21 and December 23 and then again between December 28 and December 31. Staff going on strike include production and distribution workers, drivers and draymen at the company's sites at Bury St Edmunds, Eastwood (Nottinghamshire) and Abingdon (Oxfordshire).
Workers are striking after they rejected a "Scrooge" pay offer of 3 per cent by Greene King. Unite said the offer is not enough considering inflation is nearly five times higher than that.
Unite regional officer Mark Jaina said: “The strike action will inevitably result in beer shortages this Christmas and New Year but this dispute is entirely down to Greene King’s own refusal to make a fair pay offer. The workers' decision to announce a further seven days of strike action is proof that they remain determined. It’s time the company stopped playing Scrooge and started genuine pay talks.”
Greene King had offered staff a 3 per cent pay increase and a one-off payment of £650. However, as inflation now stands at 14.2 per cent Unite said the offer amounts to a "Very substantial real terms wage cut". Workers initially took five days of strike action, which ended on DEcember 9, but have decided to increase this.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Greene King’s ultimate owners are the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchinson Group. They are incredibly wealthy. But workers are only being offered a paltry pay deal which is substantially below the current 14.2% rate of inflation. When inflation is almost five times higher than the pay deal on the table it means workers are actually being offered a pay cut which is presented as a pay rise.
“Unite members at Greene King will receive the union’s complete and total support throughout their dispute.”
The strikes could lead to a shortage of popular beers in pubs, restaurants and shops over the festive period. Greene King makes a number of popular brands including IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale.
Greene King said that although Unite has 188 members within the company only around 100 were involved in the strikes last week. It added that there was no picket line at the Abingdon depot.
A Greene King spokesperson said: “The majority of our brewing and distribution teams have continued to work and we are incredibly grateful for their hard work and commitment, which has meant disruption has been kept to a minimum and we were able to complete all the deliveries our customers were expecting last week. We’ve met regularly with members of Unite over the past few months since the pay rise offer in May and explained how we aim to be fair and consistent across our business, given the challenging wider economic environment currently.
“We are disappointed Unite has not come back to us with sustainable options to discuss and a minority is attempting to disrupt deliveries to pubs. We have robust contingency plans in place so that pubs continue receiving deliveries from us across Christmas and beyond, at a time when pubs need all the support they can get ahead of what look like an incredibly challenging January and February.”
