United Kingdom, London: About 180 brewery workers at Carlsberg's main UK brewery, based in Northampton, have voted to strike from Dec. 1, the Danish company confirmed on Monday, November 22, but the brewer said it would import extra beer to help keep up UK supplies. The company wants to introduce more flexible working practices and multiple tasks for some staff at its Northampton brewery in central England in exchange for higher pay, but the workers claim only a proportion of them will be offered the new deal.

Carlsberg says beer supplies will not be disrupted in the UK as non-union staff operate the brewery, which produces Carlsberg and Carlsberg Export beers, and as it increases imports from Carlsberg breweries in Denmark, Poland and Italy, Reuters revealed. The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU), representing many of the brewery workers, said strike action is set to take place on two 16-day periods from Dec. 1 and then from Jan. 2, after a high proportion of the 182 union members out of a workforce of nearly 260 voted for strike.

"The message to the company is clear: you have got until next Wednesday to try and resolve this issue. Our members clearly feel strongly enough to strike in a 16-day period leading up to Christmas," said a TGWU spokesman.” The company responded that employees could earn up to 20 % more over the next three years and that its other British brewery in Leeds, in northern England, had recently confirmed acceptance of the deal.

Carlsberg's two breweries in the UK produce around 5 million barrels of beer a year, giving it a 12 percent share of the UK beer market, where it ranks No 4 after Scottish and Newcastle, Adolph Coors Co and InBev.

24 November, 2004