Greene King brewery five-day strike ends

A number of Greene King brewery staff, including in Bury St Edmunds, were on strike for five days

A five-day strike by 188 staff working for brewery giant Greene King has ended without a resolution to a pay dispute and with more action planned.

Walk-outs took place at sites in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; Eastwood, Notts; and Abingdon, Oxon.

Unite said union members had rejected an offer of a 3% pay rise and one-off payment of £650, and more strikes were planned for 21-23 December.

Greene King said it was "disappointed" its offer had been rejected.

Unite said the pay offer was a substantial real-term wage cut, because of inflation.

Unite regional officer Mark Jaina said nobody wanted to willingly go out on strike and stand in the freezing cold

Unite regional officer Mark Jaina said strike action was not something the union wanted.

"Nobody wants to willingly go out on strike and stand in the freezing cold for five days, eight hours a day, but that's the situation we've been put in," he said.

Mr Jaina said workers were "sympathetic to the people that like their favourite tipple, but their wages are of paramount importance".

Greene King said it had made contingency plans to keep customers supplied with its products - which include IPA, Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen

A Greene King spokesperson said: "We can assure customers that this week's industrial action has not caused significant disruption and pubs across the country continue receiving deliveries from us.

"We have received notice for further industrial action from the afternoon of Wednesday, 21 December until the end of Friday, 23 December, but the large majority of our Christmas deliveries will already be completed by this point and we will ensure any disruption to customers is kept to an absolute minimum.

"We remain disappointed that the union encouraged its members to reject our offer and we've met regularly with members of Unite over the past few months and explained how we aim to be fair and consistent across our business, given the challenging wider economic environment currently."