Molson Coors staff dispute continues after pay deal vote
Rick Coyle, regional officer at the Unite union, said on Monday: “Our members have narrowly rejected the pay deal in a ballot of the workforce. We will now be consulting with the Unite reps on the next steps. The union won’t be commenting further until those discussions have taken place.”
In May workers voted by a margin of 97% in favour of strike action in a dispute over payment and shift patterns.
A Molson Coors spokesperson said: “Clearly we are disappointed by today’s news given how far we’ve gone to adopt the changes proposed by Unite.
“We will take the next few days to listen to Unite to better understand the reasons why a ‘yes’ vote was not quite reached and will continue in meaningful consultation so that we can reach a solution that supports a competitive future for Burton brewery and is fair to our employees.
“Both Molson Coors and Unite will continue to work on resolving minor differences so that a solution can be reached during the agreed collective consultation period.”
The dispute centres on the 455-strong workforce at the brewery being sacked and reemployed on what Unite called “inferior pay and conditions”, with pay for 184 brewery technicians reduced by up to £9,000-a-year.
The union said a key issue is new “radical” shift patterns that it said means staff spend 335 days per year either working or at home and contactable to come into work at 23 hours notice.
