A 'summer beer drought' could be on the horizon with hundreds of brewery employees threatening to strike over their current pay.
The Liverpool ECHO reports that those working at the Budweiser Brewing Group's Lancashire site, which brews Budweiser, Stella Artois, Becks, Boddingtons and Export Pale Ale, voted to down tools over a real terms pay cut. A total of 225 GMB Union members at the Samlesbury site, near Preston, will begin an overtime ban, meaning that they will not engage in training or complete face to face handovers from Wednesday, May 11.
After reported "months of discussion", the union said the world’s biggest brewer tabled a full and final offer of 3% increase for 2022 and 3% for 2023 with increases in overtime rates, reports BusinessLive.
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However, it said that with the cost-of-living crisis and inflation at 9%, "the offer amounts to a massive pay cut in real terms". GMB added its members also support full strike action, which would be the first time, with the dates for these strikes still to be confirmed.
GMB organiser Stephen Boden said: "This industrial action is a result of Budweiser brewing group's management making a frankly insulting pay offer. They are choosing to ignore workers and put profit before people with this derisory pay offer.
"Workers are rightly angry and if this strike goes the distance Budweiser could face a summer beer drought. How can they expect hard working staff to accept a real terms pay cut? But it’s not too late for management to listen to workers and get back round the table with us to work out a fair deal."
