by John Harrington
Carlsberg UK has insisted that supplies will not be disrupted over Christmas despite a 16-day walk out over pay issues by staff at its Northampton brewery.
More than 70% of workers who voted came out in favour of the walk-out starting on 1 Dec-ember in reaction to a restructuring plan by the brewery. However, about 100 non-Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) staff will be brewing as usual.
The result of the ballot, organised by the T&G, was announced on Monday, when the union also threatened to hold another 16-day strike in early January if their demands are not met before Christmas.
T&G members at the plant said the plan to introduce two new grades of workers would mean most will be classed as "non-technicians" and will receive no pay rise.
The T&G wants every worker to be a "developer", and get a 3% pay hike plus the chance to qualify in the technician grade.
The union argued that a similar restructuring deal at Carlsberg's Leeds brewery saw only half the workforce placed in the higher-paid technical grade after two years.
T&G regional industrial organiser Jackie Williams said: "The pay freeze for many of our members is simply unacceptable.
"A 16-day strike shows our people are determined to fight back. They have seen the future as shown by the Leeds brewery and refused to follow it."
But Carlsberg argues that the restructuring would allow staff to earn an extra 20% within three years. It said its contingency plans, which include support from other Carlsberg breweries in Poland, Italy and Denmark, will mean supply will not be affected during the festive period.
Carlsberg human resources director Ian Deninson said: "We are clearly disappointed that our employees at Northampton do not appear to have bought into our vision of developing an industry leading, highly trained and well-rewarded brewing team.
"[Most] employees stand to make significant financial gains by adopting our proposals, as well as receiving first-rate training and real opportunities for personal development," he said.
"In the few cases where employees will not gain by these measures, we have agreed to protect existing earnings. We are disappointed in the light of the fact that employees in our Leeds Brewery have recently confirmed their acceptance of a very similar three-year pay deal."