AB-InBev and the unions: a victory of sorts

After a headline-grabbing strike and 18 months of hard-bargaining, the Belgian unions scored a victory. Instead of the 300 jobs, which had been identified for the axe in early 2010, only 167 are to go.

An agreement was reached on 9 June 2011 between AB-InBev’s management and the unions on the restructuring plan. It entails 167 job losses (out of about 3,000 in Belgium), but there will be no involuntary redundancies. The scheme settled on early retirements and voluntary departures, said union representatives.

AB-InBev’s Belgian sales activities will be organised differently and a number of other services will be centralised. Despite 170 jobs being shed, nobody will actually be dismissed. Employees will have the opportunity to opt for early retirement or another scheme involving a financial bonus to leave the company on a voluntary basis.

The original restructuring plan was announced in early 2010. It provided for some 300 departures in the form of layoffs and early retirements. The talks were quickly cut short and resulted in a two-week blockade of AB-InBev’s breweries.

During the negotiations, the unions fought hard that workers and employees would get the same terms. This has been achieved.

Workers’ representatives also obtained guarantees on the volume of employment for the next three years.