Bury St Edmunds workers at Greene King to take five-day strike action

Workers at a brewery are set to strike over pay with a union warning the industrial action could lead to beer shortages.

After being offered a three per cent pay increase and a £650 one-off payment, 188 Greene King workers who are members of the union Unite will be going on strike in Bury St Edmunds, Eastwood in Nottinghamshire and Abingdon in Oxfordshire.

The strikes will start on Monday, December 5 and last for five days which the union said has the potential to cause shortages of popular products including IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale.

Sharan Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “Greene King’s owners are incredibly wealthy, the failure to offer workers a decent pay rise is all about greed and not about need.

“Unite, which is now entirely focussed on defending the jobs, pay and conditions of its members, will not idly stand by while a wealthy company tries to further boost its profits by subjecting its workers to substantial real terms pay cuts.

“Unite members at Greene King will receive the union’s complete and total support throughout their dispute.”

Greene King is owned by Hong Kong based company CK Asset Holdings which is owned by Sir Li-Ka Shing, one of the richest men in the world.

According to Forbes business magazine, Li Ka-shing is worth $33 billion.

Mark Jaina, regional officer at Unite, added: “The strike action will inevitably result in drinkers being denied their favourite tipple this Christmas but this dispute is entirely of Greene King’s own making.

“It has had every chance to make a fair pay offer but has refused to do so.

“Greene King needs to stop wringing its hands and make our members a decent pay offer.”

A Greene King spokesperson has said: "“We are disappointed that the union has encouraged its members to reject our pay offer, as well as a number of other benefits, and pursue this course of action.

"Our pay rise offer is fair and consistent across the business, especially given the challenging wider economic environment.

"We have full contingency plans in place to minimise disruption and we will be working closely with our customers to communicate and implement these in the coming days.”