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Budweiser workers could strike in UK, threatening a ‘summer beer drought’

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/business ... index.html

London
CNN Business
—
Hundreds of Budweiser employees in the United Kingdom could go on strike, threatening to create a shortage of some of the country’s most popular beers.

The UK staff of the world’s biggest brewer have refused to accept the company’s new pay package. According to GMB Union, the offer from the Budweiser Brewing group, the UK arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), was a 3% increase for 2022 and 3% for 2023 with increases in overtime rates. But with UK inflation hitting 9%, the union says the pay raises will actually amount to an overall pay cut for the workers.

A total of 225 GMB members working at BBG’s Samlesbury site have voted for industrial action, a precursor to a potential strike. For the first time, members supported full strike action.

“Workers are rightly angry and if this strike goes the distance Budweiser could face a summer beer drought,” GMB Organiser Stephen Boden said in a statement. The BBG site produces an array of beers such as Budweiser, Stella Artois, Becks, Boddingtons and Export Pale Ale.

A spokesperson from BBG told CNN in a statement that the company is offering a competitive package “in the 90th percentile for total compensation – with benefits that include private medical cover and bonuses.”

“We’ve made significant investments in Samlesbury which have resulted in further innovation and automation, additional skills development, promotions and many new job opportunities. Over recent years we have increased our headcount by over 65,” the spokeperson added.

BBG and GMB have had a “positive and long-standing relationship” and have been in negotiation for months claiming their staff are their “greatest strength,” the spokeperson said. “We are hopeful that through a continued open dialogue we can still reach a mutually acceptable way forward which will avoid industrial action.”

BBG also stated the company has plans in place to minimize the impact on customers.

PP

The problem you have with this is describing Budweiser (as sold in the UK) as beer...
Most discerning imbibers might call it ' bat piss'.

As a teenager, experimenting with regional beers, I coined the term 'old maid's water' for a particular local brew.

Nor a beer drinker in many years (wino).
What about the others?
The BBG site produces an array of beers such as Budweiser, Stella Artois, Becks, Boddingtons and Export Pale Ale.

PP

larsssnowpharter wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 27, 2022 10:09 pm

The problem you have with this is describing Budweiser (as sold in the UK) as beer...
Most discerning imbibers might call it ' bat piss'.

Budweiser go on strike and all UK beer quality indicators go up!

Budweiser in the USA is equally horrible! American style lagers of the pale kind are pretty wretched in the main!

Budweiser in the USA is equally horrible! American style lagers of the pale kind are pretty wretched in the main!

Agree ! Nothing beats a good UK Best Bitter. i.e. Flat warm Beer, as the Yanks used to say in WW II. The King's Head "English Pub" I use in California - hopefully visiting next week - serves Bass on Draught, not the best but better than the US Lagers, and the supermarkets now provide a selection of one or two IPA's, which avoids having to drink Bud. NZ produces some nice dark beers too.

Don’t know about California, but there’s quite a healthy number of craft breweries in the States that produce perfectly quaffable brews

IPAs are becoming very popular, most of the small independents are in fact owned by Marsdens: Ringwood, Jennings, Wytchwood and Wainwrights all brew IPA but are all under the same ownership, but all brew very distinctive beer.

OM 15 Last time I was in California one of the more "exotic" supermarkets was selling that beer brewed in Blandford Forum - Badger is it ? Didn't indulge, too expensive for my Yorkshire background, but it brought back a few memories.

Woody, Yes, there are a few good ones around now. Before "craft" become the norm, there was a good one produced by a regular Seattle brewery - so well known it escapes my memory - came in a green can, then they changed the recipe and it stopped selling, out of production now.

PHXPhlyer wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 28, 2022 4:22 am

Nor a beer drinker in many years (wino).
What about the others?
The BBG site produces an array of beers such as Budweiser, Stella Artois, Becks, Boddingtons and Export Pale Ale.

PP

I'll give you Stella and Boddingtons, but EPA? As OM says plenty of IPA.

Stella was my lager of choice after a hot session gardening, either 250 or 330 ml, but now I prefer Peronni. Then I found Perroni Grand Reserva at 6.5%.

My daughter brought me some Belgian beers at 11%. You don't need more than one

Exsp, yes the brewery is still going strong, it is much modernised now and on a smaller plot within the original site, (which has been turned over to housing developments), they still brew Badger, Tanglefoot, Golden Champion, Blandford Fly, Poacher and Fursty Ferret.

I did a tour a few years ago, very interesting and a free pint, bit far for you to come though.

https://www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/

edited to add https://www.badgerbeers.com/product/build-your-own/

I suspect that that war in the Ukraine might be a bigger threat to the price of beer at least...

The price of beer could rise significantly because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Reports point to how the potential increase in the cost of beer would be owed to the geographical location of the cultivation of barley. The grain is a key ingredient of beer-making and is heavily produced in Ukraine.

Beer Prices Could Rise Because of the Crisis in Ukraine
Due to the high amount of barely grain grown in the region, Ukraine is often referred to the “breadbasket of Europe.”

Any rise in the price of beer would inevitably impact businesses that rely on purchasing the much-loved beverage, namely bars, pubs, and restaurants.

https://smallbiztrends.com/2022/03/beer ... %20Ukraine.

Good Moaning All,
14c Guess 19c with Tormentas.
Clear blue at the start of the day but rapidilly clouding over, no sign yet of predicted mayhem.

Mad strimmer started on the dot of eight, just a little to do now.

Bit of a shopping run to do, need to go to Nerja for SM's blended.

Strange innit, don't see much of the brown jobs here, most deliveries are Suer or Correos Express.

Most discerning imbibers might call it ' bat piss'.

That's an insult to bats.

GG

Groundgripper wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:48 am

Most discerning imbibers might call it ' bat piss'.

That's an insult to bats.

GG

Oscar Wilde's (or was it Whistler's or Shaw's?) bon mots as imagined by Monty Python...

Twas Shaw....

Shaw - "Your Majesty is like a stream of bat's piss!"

His Majesty (voice confounded and irate) - "Whatever do you mean Wilde?"

Shaw - "“Your highness, when I said that you are like a stream of bat's piss, I only mean that you shine out like a shaft of gold when all around it is dark”...



Actual script

Budweiser?? Like making love in a canoe!

Some of the world's worst beers...

I don't see PBR on that list... a light summer beer!

PBR = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pabst_Blue_Ribbon

I've always found that the best beer anywhere in the world is a good local beer...and that's usually not one of the big brewers. They are generally brewed for local conditions - temperature, humidity and drinking habits. For example, in Australia, you would never drink beer served at the temperatures it often is in the UK, but there are many good local brews in the UK. If you don't know a good one, ask someone in the pub - that's where the experts gather.

There are two beers that I've never known anyone, American or Australian, to recommend, though - Budweiser and Fosters.

When I was a teenager, our local breweries were Scottish and Newcastle and Vaux.

Nowadays we have several microbreweries including Hexhamshire and Hadrian Border.