Supplies of well-known beers and ales could be impacted as brewery workers stage industrial strike action this festive period.
Unite the Union confirmed that its members at Greene King will stage a total of seven days strike action following a "refusal to offer a fair pay increase". Workers have taken three days of action from December 21 to December 23 with a further four days planned.
These will be held between December 28 and December 31 as staff fight for a fairer pay deal. The union confirmed that supplies of well-known beers and ales to pubs, restaurants and shops including IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale will likely be affected.
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Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Greene King’s ultimate owners are the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Group. They are incredibly wealthy so Greene King workers should be paid fairly. Instead, workers are being offered a pay cut dressed up as a pay rise.
"Unite members at Greene King will receive the union’s complete and total support throughout their dispute. Greene King management need to return to the negotiating table with a substantially improved pay offer."
Greene King is the country's leading pub retailer and brewer with thousands of pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK, including in Merseyside. Workers voted for strike action after Greene King only offered them a 3% pay increase and a further one-off payment of £650.
The company made a revised offer of a two year pay deal, but the union says this "still amounts to a very substantial real terms wage cut". Unite regional officer Mark Jaina added: " The strike action means popular beers like Old Speckled Hen could run out this Christmas and New Year but this dispute is entirely down Greene King’s refusal to make a fair pay offer.
"The workers are standing firm and action will spread into 2023. It’s time the company stopped playing Scrooge and started genuine pay talks."
Greene King confirmed that January industrial action is "unlikely to have any significant impact" due to it being a quieter period of time for pubs and supermarkets and shops have not been impacted in any way. The company told the ECHO that other salaried staff, not members of Unite, received their pay rise back in May.
They added that with 850 workers, less than 100 took part in industrial action on December 21 and despite the strike action, all expected deliveries were completed, to more than 6,000 pubs.
A Greene King spokesperson said: "We’re disappointed Unite encouraged some of its members to reject our pay offer from May, meaning all its members are yet to receive the pay rise that other salaried staff received more than six months ago.
"We believe our pay rise offer is fair and consistent across our business and the wider industry, particularly with the extremely challenging costs the whole pubs and brewing sector is facing now.
"We’re incredibly grateful to the majority of our brewing and distribution teams whose hard work and commitment has helped to nullify any impact from this industrial action so that pubs across the country continue to receive their deliveries in time for Christmas and the New Year."
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