Carlsberg workers strike over beer-drinking rights

A few hundred warehouse workers and drivers at Danish brewer Carlsberg halted work for a second day yesterday to protest a company decision to limit beer drinking at work to lunch breaks.

The strike in Denmark followed the company's April 1 decision to introduce new rules for employees on beer drinking at work, said Jens Bekke, spokesman at the world number four brewer.

"There has been free beer, water and soft drinks everywhere," he said. "Yesterday, beers were removed from all refrigerators. The only place you can get a beer in future is in the canteen, at lunch."

Bekke said drivers retained an old right to three beers per day outside lunch hours, and warehouse workers claimed the same right.

"Because of that, the warehouse staff went on strike yesterday, with other staff striking in sympathy," he said.

Bekke said as many as 800 had walked out on Wednesday, with 250 still on strike on Thursday, and the Confederation of Danish Industry and trade union 3F had agreed to look into the dispute.

He said there would be no shipments from Copenhagen on Thursday, and delays in the rest of the country, but said he expected the financial effect of the strike to be minor.

He added that Carlsberg's trucks have alcohol locks so drivers would not be able to drink too much and drive.

- Reuters