Diageo has said it does not expect any supply issues for Guinness or its non-alcoholic counterpart over the holiday period, days after employees at its Northern Ireland brewery voted to take strike action in a dispute over pay.
The response to last week’s report on the upcoming walkouts at the Belfast site countered claims made by Unite the Union that the action could impact production of both Guinness’ full-strength and alcohol-free stout. The union said that around 90 workers had voted to strike from 5 to 13 December in a dispute over pay, which Diageo has since said would not impact production.
In a statement provided to Global Drinks Intel, a group spokesperson said: “There will be no disruption to the supply of Guinness or Guinness 0.0 over the Christmas period. We have contingency plans in place to manage any potential impact at our can packaging site in Belfast.”
The spokesperson added that continued dialogue remains the company’s preferred route to resolving the dispute.
Diageo also pushed back on aspects of Unite’s initial communication, stressing that the Marshalls Road site is a packaging facility, not a brewery. The company said it is currently supplying “more Guinness 0.0 to the GB market than ever before”.
Unite is seeking what it describes as a “substantial” pay uplift to narrow the gap with Diageo’s Runcorn site in England.
In August, Diageo kicked off Guinness’ second year as the “official beer and non-alcoholic beer” of the English Premier League with a global marketing push.
