Eastwood brewery workers to take strike action over Christmas

Workers were taking three days of strike action between December 21 and 23 and a further four days between December 28 and 31.

Supplies of well-known beers and ales to pubs, restaurants and shops including IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale will be affected.

The 188 workers, including production and distribution workers, drivers and draymen, who are members of Unite based at Bury St Edmunds, Eastwood and Abingdon in Oxfordshire were balloted for industrial action and 56 per cent voted to strike.

The workers voted for strike action after Greene King only offered them a 3 per cent pay increase and a further one-off payment of £650.

The company has made a revised offer of a two-year pay deal.

But Unite says, with real inflation standing at 14 per cent, this still amounts to a substantial real-term wage cut.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Greene King’s ultimate owners are Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Group.

“They are incredibly wealthy, so Greene King workers should be paid fairly, but 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.”

Mark Jaina, Unite regional officer, 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.”

A Greene King spokesman 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 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 looks like an incredibly challenging January and February.”