Guinness supply threatened as workers to strike

Guinness drinkers on both sides of the Irish Sea could soon be struggling for their pint as the company's 2,000-strong workforce in the Irish Republic prepares to strike.

The stoppage, due to begin tomorrow, Thursday 12 April, is an attempt to prevent Guinness Ireland closing a 140-job packaging facility in Dundalk as part of a rationalisation plan. All company plants are to be picketed, halting production, and "supplies will run out fairly quickly," according to company spokesman Pat Barry.

As well as stout, production of Harp, Budweiser and Smithwicks will be hit. "It will certainly have a very serious effect on our business, both at home and in export markets," said Mr Barry. "We export about 50 per cent of the production from our Irish operations."

In Britain, the Park Royal brewery will help ease the supply problem, but Mr Barry declined to say if production there would be increased.

The wrangle over the packaging plant has been going on for several months. Guinness claims that closing it and transferring the operation to a facility in Belfast would mean a saving of over IR£8m. The six unions involved insist the Dundalk plant is more viable than its Belfast counterpart - and have produced a consultants' report supporting that view - but their real worry is that this could be the start of Guinness gradually disengaging from Ireland.

Another 60 jobs are to go at the Harp brewery in Dundalk and in the longer term, the company says it will be "reassessing" operations in Kilkenny, Waterford and Dublin. So the unions have said they will fight the move, in the hope of averting heavier casualties later on.