Whisky workers at Balblair Distillery, Edderton, strike in row over pay with parent company Inver House Distillers; GMB Scotland members seeking four per cent pay increase walk out after rejecting three per cent offer
Whisky workers at an Easter Ross distillery were on the picket lines today [Thursday] after pay talks broke down.
GMB Scotland, one of the biggest unions in the whisky industry, said the strike at Inver House Distillers had the overwhelming support of workers after rejection of a three per cent pay offer.
The company owns and runs the Balblair Distillery in Edderton as well as several other Highland and Moray distilleries - including Old Pulteney in Wick.
The ballot came after workers accused the firm of refusing to reopen negotiations or engage with conciliation service Acas.
David Hume, GMB Scotland organiser in the whisky industry, said: “Workers hoping for fair and transparent negotiations on pay have been failed by a management treating them with disdain.
“Whether they have been asleep at the wheel and stumbled into this dispute or are wilfully refusing to engage, the action today must be a wake up call.
“The skilled workforce at Inver House deserves far better than a high-handed, dismissive response from a company built on their effort and commitment.
“Managers must engage and engage quickly or the strike today will only be the start of far more prolonged and disruptive industrial action.”
“They must reengage with negotiations, return to the table and find a fair resolution.”
GMB Scotland said that 78 per cent of its members voted for strike action in a bid to secure a four per cent pay rise, and that 87 per cent of those who voted had backed action short of strikes on a 71 per cent turnout.
GMB Scotland has called for Inver House Distillers to reopen negotiations on pay and a review of longstanding collective bargaining arrangements that the union says is necessary to reflect its membership among distillery, warehouse and security workers.
Inver House is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of ThaiBev, one of the biggest drinks companies in south-east Asia which recorded profits of £600m last year.
As well as Old Pulterney, it also operates four other distilleries elsewhere in the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire - Old Pulteney in Wick, Balmemach in Cromdale, Knockdhu in Banffshire, and Speyburn in Moray. It also runs a maturation warehouse at its headquarters in Moffat, Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
Inver House Distillers was not immediately reachable for comment.
