Pubco: GMB is threatening pub livelihoods
Tied licensees who take part in industrial action are putting their businesses and homes at risk, one pubco has warned.
The pubco hit out after trade union the GMB announced a series of 16 national roadshows (GMB announces pub strike roadshow) to gain support for a national ballot on industrial action by tied pub tenants.
The GMB is to ballot its members over whether they are for or against industrial action and what form that should take.
The union believes that any member taking part in industrial action has legal immunity for 12 weeks under trade union legislation, as long as a majority vote in favour of the action.
The first step in any such industrial action could be a switch-off of all Brulines beer flow monitoring equipment.
But one pubco slated the proposals and warned that tied tenants would be harming their own businesses and putting their livelihoods and homes at risk.
It said, it did not believe that tied lessees were covered by legal immunity because they were self-employed.
"The GMB is haemorrhaging members. All this is is a membership drive for the union barons," one pubco spokesman said.
"It is extremely sad that this union is trying to persuade licensees to deliberately harm their own businesses and livelihoods in this way."
However, GMB national secretary Paul Maloney refuted the allegations and said the GMB now had over 3,500 licensee members.
"Let me tell you the GMB is one of the fastest growing unions in the UK, simply because we respond to our members requests," he said.
"We have been requested to run a dispute by tied tenants and that is what we are doing.
"The GMB has not gone looking for licensees, they have come to us because they are sick of the way they are treated by the pubcos and sick of working for a pittance."
