BELGIUM: Belgian beer supplies run low after nearly two weeks of blockades at AB InBev breweries

Record ID: 339501

  • Title: BELGIUM: Belgian beer supplies run low after nearly two weeks of blockades at AB InBev breweries
  • Date: 20th January 2010
  • Summary: LUIK, BELGIUM (JANUARY 19, 2010) (REUTERS) FIRE BURNING, WORKERS AND WALL MADE OUT OF BEER CRATES IN FRONT OF AB INBEV PLANT MANUFACTURING JUPILER BEER, BLOCKING THE ENTRANCE FIRE BURNING AND WORKER DRINKING JUPILER BEER WORKERS IN FRONT OF WALL MADE OUT OF BEER CRATES WORKER DRINKING JUPILER BEER WORKERS AND WALL MADE OUT OF BEER CRATES WITH BREWERY IN BACKGROUND LO
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVACYQWC4OES581C5X63LRJLR1IJ
  • Story Text: Belgians could soon face a shortage of some of their favourite beers after workers established a blockade at InBev Belgian breweries in protest at a restructuring plan and a new round of conciliation talks failed.
    Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest beer maker, failed to halt nearly two weeks of blockades at its Belgian breweries when a second round of mediation talks collapsed on Tuesday (January 19).
    In Liege, cases of beer have been piling up in front ot the plant manufacturing Jupiler, a lager beer widely sold throughout Belgium.
    The Belgian workers have blocked the entrances to the company's large plants in Leuven and Liege for 13 days and a week at Hoegaarden in protest at AB InBev's plan to cut a net 263 jobs out of its 2,700 Belgian workforce.
    On a European level, AB InBev has said it could cut some 10 percent of its 8,000 strong workforce in western Europe due to falling beer markets.
    Belgian unions have demanded that the company withdraw its restructuring plan, but officials say it has only been willing to lift it for a matter of months.
    The company wants to relocalise support services like the payroll or purchasing departments to the Czech Republic or Hungary, union leader Marc Sparmont said.
    The unions fear the outsourcing of some departments would eventually lead to the closures of some plants and Belgium loosing its largest breweries.
    Workers like Jacques Ghilain are angry.
    ''His bonus is crystal clear, it's 82 million euros, all this to the expense of the workers,'' Ghilain said, showing a mask of Carlos Brito, the Brazilian CEO of InBev.
    The company's management and unions failed to settle differences at conciliation talks last Thursday (January 14) and a second attempt ended the same way on Tuesday, union officials said.
    ''Today we couldn't go as far as getting the management to drop its entire plan. And I have to add that the management says 'we don't want to make promises today that we wouldn't be able to honour tomorrow,'' union leader Ilse Galliart told the workers at the end of the day.
    InBev said it wants to organise a new round on Wednesday (January 20).
    Sparmont called for coordinate actions at a European level.
    ''If the European management team doesn't have the power to withdraw the plan here and now, there is only one thing left to do: it's to continue our actions and if possible to pursue them on a European level because now we have enough !'' Sparmont told InBev workers.
    InBev Belgium, which has a 57 percent share of the Belgian beer market, has said it risked running out of raw materials soon.
    Several supermarkets said they would face a shortage of beers such as Stella Artois, Jupiler and Leffe -- all produced by InBev -- from Wednesday (January 20).
    Sparmont said a shortage would damage the brand and Belgian consumers should look for beers produced by smaller breweries.
    ''There is still brewers, small breweries in Belgium who are producing beers and who earn a decent living and respect their workers and it's about time that InBev understands that,'' Sparmont said.
    Supermarket chains Delhaize and Carrefour said on Tuesday their depots had very low stocks of beers such as Stella Artois, Jupiler and Leffe.
    On Tuesday afternoon, Colruyt in Brussels was selling its last six crates of Jupiler.
    Carrefour plans to increase supplies of rival beers, such as Heineken's <HEIN.AS> Belgian pils Maes, a spokeswoman said.
    InBev, which also makes Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck's, sold 5.6 percent less of its beer in the region on a like-for-like basis in the first nine months of 2009, part of a general downward trend exacerbated by the economic crisis.
    However, AB InBev's profit margin in the zone did expand in that period.
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