Workers at a Fife whisky plant have taken part in a protest following weeks of strike action in a dispute over pay.
Unite the Union members held the demonstration around noon on Sunday outside of Diageo’s bottling plant at Banbeath Industrial Estate in Leven.
Unite has accused the whisky giant – which produces brands such as Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff – of introducing a lower rate of pay for new starts without consulting unions.
This issue, the union says, was first raised through the grievance process in 2019.
Unite estimates some of its engineering members are set to lose around 6% of their pay when moved to the lower rate of pay.
It follows a series of stoppages – including last weekend – with more walkouts scheduled to take place until April 3 if a resolution is not found.
Last year Diageo reported operating profits were up by 18.2% to £4.4 billion, with net sales up 21.4% to £15.5bn.
Bob Macgregor, Unite’s industrial officer, told The Courier: “We are hoping to highlight to the public Diageo are making massive profits and they trying cut the pay of these workers.
“What we want to achieve is to make Diageo come into meaningful talks to stop these cuts because they seem to want to starve these guys back to work.
“They are trying to make sure Diageo actually come back to the table and start talking to us again because they haven’t been since the strike started.
“There’s been no offer to try and resolve the dispute so we want to put the pressure on them. The guys don’t want to be standing on the picket line.
“[The workers] are frustrated and angry that the company are trying to cut the pay when they are making £4.4bn in profits.
“They are frustrated the company won’t talk to them anymore and are leaving them to freeze it out on the picket line.
“The talks have stopped and are not doing anything to resolve the dispute.
“It’s making the guys determined to stay out until it’s resolved.”
Diageo ‘committed’ to resolving dispute
A Diageo spokesperson said: “We are proud of the pay and benefits packages we provide.
“We have a very small number of employees taking industrial action over weekend nightshift requirements.
“Our Leven site continues to operate safely and as normal, and we remain committed to seeking a resolution to this dispute.”
Diageo has an estimated 27,987 employees.
