Brewery gives notice to all 150 staff

THE jobs of all 150 staff at one of Cork’s old industries are hanging in the balance after staff were issued with protective notice yesterday.

The Beamish & Crawford brewery faces possible closure as a result of the company’s move.

Management blamed the measure on an unofficial industrial action taken by a minority of staff.

It said it had no option but to issue the protective notice.

It was unclear last night beyond what date the company had told workers their jobs could not be guaranteed.

Senior union officials have arranged to meet staff at the city centre brewery this morning.

“When protective notice is issued, it is obviously very serious and we have to be highly concerned about the situation,” said SIPTU branch secretary Eddie Mullins.

Beamish & Crawford has been brewing in the city since 1792.

A spokesman said the notice was issued because of certain production staff’s refusal to operate shift procedures. “The procedures were introduced to accommodate increased volumes ahead of the Christmas market, which is the busiest time of the year for the brewing industry,” he said.

The company recently introduced a €7 million bottling line, around which new shifts had been brought in. The spokesman said the increased workload would have led to additional hours and overtime pay.

“We regret that we have been forced to issue protective notice to all employees arising from the actions of a minority. But we have been in discussion for a number of months with employee representatives through accepted industrial relations procedures, to no avail,” he said.

Beamish & Crawford is a subsidiary of Scottish and Newcastle. Its main products include Beamish stout and the Miller and Foster lager brands.

The jobs threat comes less than two weeks after another long-serving place of employment in the city, the previous Sunbeam textile plant, was destroyed by a fire, leaving around 150 people without work.