Workers at a large brewery near Preston in England are going on strike, threatening a possible beer shortage.
As announced by the GMB union Last Friday, July 1, workers at one of the largest breweries in the country will go on strike later this month. This means the possibility of a beer shortage for British drinkers this summer.

Employees at Budweiser’s Samlesbury plant near Preston in Lancashire, England, brew popular beers such as Budweiser, Becks and Stella Artois.

Its industrial action will take place on July 16. On July 19 they will also stop working for a period of 12 hours. After continuous talks between @GMB_union and Budweiser Brewing Group eventually reached an impasse, the union called the strike, according to reports. business-live,co.uk.

The international brewing giant has been accused of ‘thug’ tactics by union organizer Stephen Boden. He claimed they threatened to withhold back wages from the workforce unless they accepted a “derisory” offer of a three percent wage increase by July 21.

“It’s disgraceful that he threatens to take money out of workers’ pockets during a cost-of-living crisis,” Mr. Boden fumed. Budweiser’s offer was equivalent to a pay cut in real terms when weighed against the ongoing inflation, he continued.

“It is not too late for management to listen to the workers and meet with us to reach a fair agreement,” added Boden.

“Budweiser Brewing Group has a long and positive relationship with GMB; however, despite open negotiations, GMB has confirmed that there will be additional dates for industry action at our Samlesbury brewery,” said a Budweiser Brewing Group spokeswoman. She added that the company had already put plans in place to “minimize the impact to customers and consumers.”

The huge Samlesbury facility supplies pubs and shops across Britain with hundreds of millions of pints of beer. It also brews many other popular beer brands, including Boddington’s, Bass, and Brahma. There has already been industrial action at the Samlesbury facility in June.

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