Anger over AB InBev job cuts threatens distribution

AB InBev employees have reacted with fury to the news that the brewer is to cut as many as 800 jobs across western Europe.

News of the job losses, which amount to 10% of the company’s 8,000-strong workforce in Belgium, Germany, the UK, Holland and Luxembourg, prompted staff in Belgium to take their bosses hostage and block off the entrances to company plants, impacting distribution at the world’s biggest brewer.

So far the company has confirmed it intends to make 263 job cuts in Belgium and 386 in Germany. It has not revealed how many redundancies will be made in the UK.

Fuming union representatives at the Jupiler brewery in Belgium held 10 managers hostage after hearing the news, eventually letting them leave after 11 hours.

Meanwhile employees have blocked the gates at both the Jupiler and Leuven breweries in Belgium since last Thursday, preventing lorries from arriving or departing.

The brewer hopes to resolve the situation by holding further talks with union representatives.

The job cuts are being blamed on falling beer sales and the turbulent economic climate, with the company saying it needs to be “slimmer and more flexible”.

Total sales revenue fell 1.8% in organic terms for the first nine months of 2009, with volumes in western Europe crashing by 5.6%.

The company claims beer consumption in western Europe has been in “structural decline” for several years, and said consumers are shifting their drinking habits by favouring more premium and speciality beers.

Alan Lodge, 13.01.10