Australia: Carlton & United Breweries close one of the Abbotsford brewery’s seven production lines

Flat beer sales and a shift in production of Carlsberg and Stella Artois off-site have led Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) to shed about 30 Melbourne brewing jobs, Herald Sun reported on August, 2.

CUB told workers at its Abbotsford brewery on August, 2 it will shut down one of the site's seven production lines, and 33 jobs will go.

"CUB has announced it will be closing one of the older production lines at Abbotsford, making 33 positions redundant," the company said in a statement.

The company's acquisition by SABMiller has meant international beers such as Carlsberg and Stella Artois are no longer being brewed under licence at Abbotsford, it said.

"This, combined with the challenging short-term Australian market forecast for beer volumes, has led to the decision to close B2, which is one of the older bottling lines at Abbotsford," CUB said.

A spokeswoman said the past six months had seen beer sales become "just a bit flatter".

The company said it expects voluntary redundancies to cover all job losses, which will be finalised by October.

United Voice Victorian secretary Jess Walsh said the union would work with CUB management to ensure voluntary redundancies were made fairly and transparently.

"It's always a tragedy when jobs disappear in the manufacturing sector, especially good, well-paid jobs like these," Ms Walsh said.

03 August, 2012