E-Malt.com News article: UK: InBev-owned Tennent Caledonian Brewery workers set to fight for future of plant after nearly 50 redundancies implied

A battle is brewing in Glasgow, with union leaders saying they will fight for the long-term future of the Tennent Caledonian Brewery ahead of a meeting with management to discuss redundancies on August 17, The Herald posted August 16.

As many as 50 workers, a quarter of the production workforce, could lose their jobs at the Duke Street, Dennistoun, plant as the company tries to cut costs to remain competitive.

The brewery, which is owned by Belgian brewers InBev, insists the job cuts are needed to make its operations more efficient. Union leaders said the workforce is willing to be flexible to help the company and preserve jobs. However, they said they would fight any plans to move the bottling and canning processes elsewhere.

Richard Leonard, organiser for the GMB in Scotland, said: "Our aim is to secure new investment in this brewery and so safeguard its long-term future. That means we want to see Tennent's beers and lagers not only brewed in Glasgow but bottled, canned and kegged in Glasgow too. The workforce is prepared to change and adapt and we enter this consultation with an open mind.

“This loyal, dedicated workforce has made this brewery highly profitable for numerous owners over the years and we hope the parent company InBev, the world's biggest beer company, recognises and rewards that during this forthcoming consultation. We trust there will be a meaningful period of dialogue that cements InBev's commitment to brewing and associated employment in Glasgow."

A spokeswoman for Tennent Caledonian Brewery said: "Regrettably, we can confirm there may be a number of redundancies taking place at our Wellpark brewery.

"We are going in to a consultation process with the workforce, so it would be inappropriate to comment on exact numbers, but it could be around 50. That may change following consultation."

"Wellpark brewery needs to continually improve its performance to remain competitive and stay at the leading edge."

Since InBev bought the brewery in 2001, it has invested more than £17 million. More than £3 million was spent on the site two years ago to increase production from 500 million to 600 million pints annually.

Meanwhile, a trademark judge in London has thrown out objections by Caledonian Brewing Company to Edinburgh Brewery's application to register the name Edinburgh Pale Ale the Edinburgh Brewery Company Ltd as an official trademark.

Caledonian complained Edinburgh Brewery should not be allowed to register the name because Caledonian already used the name Edinburgh Strong Ale. It claimed that use of the name Edinburgh would result in it benefiting from the reputation Caledonian had established.

The trademark registry judge, George Salter, has rejected the objections and ordered Caledonian to pay £800 towards costs run up by Edinburgh.

"There is clearly a similarity between the marks of the two parties," he said. "In my opinion, the differences between the marks are more than enough to prevent members of the relevant public, adults over the age of 18 from being led to believe that the goods offered by the applicant [Edinburgh] are goods of the opponent or that the businesses are connected."


16 August, 2006