T&G Ends Boddington's Campaign

Posted to the IUF website 10-Jan-2005

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The UK Transport & General Workers Union has announced the end of its campaign to keep the Boddington�s brewery in Manchester open (background).

Beginning in November 2004 InBev began reducing the level of production and gave individual notices to all employees that their employment would end in February 2005.

The union members put up a spirited fight that included strike action and imaginative campaigning, including cooperation with the consumer group Campaign for Real Ale and with local politicians. In December the union unsuccessfully attempted to unite all the UK Interbrew breweries for industrial action (news story).

The T&G thanks the IUF affiliates who supported the campaign, and the IUF's European regional organization, EFFAT, for mobilizing the support of Belgian trade unionists for actions in Belgium.

Consolidation in the brewing industry continues to the detriment of workers and consumers. Boddingtons is now added to a list of over 40 breweries that have been closed in the UK to enhance the profits of the big brewers, as global brands supplant historic local breweries.