Beer strike as of today
 Oh my God! Summer's coming, all the open-air restaurants have a lot of beer thirsty customers and now this:
More than 2500 brewery employees went on strike as of Wednesday morning. As a result stores, bars and restaurants will soon run out of beer and mineral water.
The strike in the brewery industry became a fact when the parties had not yet managed to reach an agreement at the deadline, midnight Tuesday. Norsk Nærings- og Nytelsesmiddelarbeiderforbund (NNN) took out its 2560 members on strike. As a result, the production and delivery of beer, soda and spring water at 12 breweries and spring water producers nation wide have been stopped.
According to the employers, the strike hits companies that represent 96-97 percent of the beer and mineral water market. NNN predicted yesterday that there would not be any beer and mineral water left in the stores by the beginning of next week.
Subconciliator Siri Berg Paulsen presented at 1 a.m. last night a plan for a solution after NNN and NBL had gone one hour overtime, in order to prevent conflict.
The employer side recommended the plan as a solution, but the employers refused to accept it, and the conflict was a fact.
Eystein Gaare, union branch secretary in NNN, said that the subconciliator's plan did not include an acceptable solution on the fundamental question regarding hiring temporary personnel. NNN demands to have a right to have a say in when and to what extent temporary personnel is hired.
«Our suggestions have been turned down all along,» Gaare said. «This is so important for us that we could not go back on this.»
Director Carl E. Rønneberg in NBL said to the Norwegian news bureau (NTB) that the plan presented by the subconciliator was good and that they would accept it. He said that it was impossible for the employers to accept the demand presented by NNN.
«They have demanded veto right in the evaluation of when workers are to be hired in, and we could not agree on that,» Rønnberg said.
The following breweries are included in the strike that went into effect as of Wednesday 6 a.m.:
Aass P. Ltz A/S, Coca-Cola Drikker, Eden Springs, Grans Bryggeri, Hansa Borg Bryggeri, Lerum Fabrikker A/S, Mack Distribusjon AS, Mack's Øl Bryggeri og Min.v.fabr., Olden Brevatn, Polytech Emballasje, Ringnes, Telemark Kildevann AS, Trio Bryggeri, Voss Production AS.
Via Nettavisen News in English. Photo: Scanpix.
|
