Brewery wild cat strike put draught beer supplies at risk

Err – what was that? Carlsberg’s brewery workers went on strike in mid-August, not because they had fallen out with their bosses. No, they went on strike because a new employee had refused to join their union, 3F.

The strike was called off on 23 August after nine days when a court gave Carlsberg the right to fire the 130 striking employees unless they returned to work.

In 2006 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that employees cannot be forced to join a specific union when they are hired at a work place. But unions in Denmark are powerful, at least in terms of membership numbers. Around two-thirds of the Danish workforce belongs to a trade union and striking is a common form of protest.

The Danish brewing industry is also famous when it comes to walking out. In past years, workers went on strike five times over matters including changes in the rules on drinking alcohol at work (2010), shift changes, and even a proposal to take away workers’ free breakfasts, it was reported.

The strike has had a serious impact on the production of keg beer with Carlsberg saying that they would have to start importing draught beer from plants in other Scandinavian countries and Germany.

However, the strike had the benefit of dulling the other news from Carlsberg on 21 August 2013 that in the second quarter this year earnings remained flat on poor European sales despite strong growth in Asia.

Operating profit (EBIT) before special items fell slightly to DKK 3.44 billion (EUR 461 million) in the April to June quarter, compared with DKK 3.47 billion (EUR 465 million) a year earlier and below an average forecast for DKK 3.58 billion (EUR 480 million) in a poll of analysts .

Overall, Carlsberg’s adjusted net profit fell 1 percent to DKK 2.1 billion compared with the same period last year.