Unions at Guinness have said that their strike will begin on Thursday of next week. Strike notice will be officially served on the company this afternoon. The decision to strike was taken by five of the company's six unions in protest over the planned closure of the packaging plant in Dundalk. The five unions voted 60% in favour of strike. However, the largest union at the brewery, the white collar Guinness Staff Association, voted overwhelmingly in a separate ballot yesterday in favour of a negotiated settlement to the row.
Brendan Hodges, of the joint union forum, said that the stoppage would affect all locations throughout the Republic. SIPTU has appealed to Government Ministers to intervene and prevent the closure of the packaging plant. Guinness Ireland spokesman, Pat Barry, said that supplies would be affected very, very quickly.
