Wine drinkers may face grocery store shortages this summer time after staff on the UK’s largest wine bottling plant voted to go on strike in a dispute over pay and situations.
The Encirc plant in Bristol, which bottles practically 300 million litres of wine a yr and provides all main UK supermarkets, will see industrial motion from Thursday till July 5, union Unite has confirmed. The positioning handles round 40 per cent of the UK’s wine bottling, together with merchandise for 18 of the highest 20 wine manufacturers bought in Britain—equivalent to Hardys, Villa Maria, McGuigan, and celebrity-backed labels from Graham Norton and Sarah Jessica Parker.
The strike will contain 200 staff, with Unite organising staggered walkouts throughout totally different elements of the enterprise to maximise disruption. Whereas instant shortages are unlikely because of stockpiling and trade lead occasions, insiders warn that if the dispute is extended, wine containers arriving at UK ports may begin backing up, with provide disruptions anticipated later in the summertime.
John Sweeney, regional officer at Unite, mentioned: “There is no doubt that this action will hit supermarket shelves. While shortages may be frustrating for customers looking to enjoy a bottle of wine this summer, the situation is entirely of Encirc’s own making.”
On the coronary heart of the dispute is a 3.2 per cent pay rise supply from Encirc, owned by Spanish dad or mum firm Vidrala, alongside proposals to hyperlink future pay will increase to inflation and take away collective bargaining rights—strikes the union says would enable the corporate to impose phrases with out negotiation.
Unite’s normal secretary Sharon Graham described the corporate’s stance as a case of company greed reasonably than monetary necessity.
“Encirc’s meanness to its workers is all about greed and not need,” she mentioned. “We will not stand idly by and allow Encirc to steal our members’ hard-won rights. Encirc workers deserve better and they have our full support throughout this dispute.”
The Encirc plant performs a vital function within the UK wine provide chain, particularly for brand new world wines, that are imported in massive delivery containers and bottled regionally to scale back each prices and carbon emissions. The corporate’s Bristol facility is considered one of the vital sustainable of its sort globally, working with zero waste and powered by 100 per cent renewable electrical energy.
In a press release, Encirc mentioned it was “incredibly disappointed” with the strike and defended its pay supply, noting that the present proposal would imply wages had risen by over 16 per cent in lower than two years on the Bristol web site.
“We have worked hard to not only uplift pay and conditions, but to create a truly great place to work,” the corporate mentioned. “We remain open to dialogue with the union in good faith and are doing all we can to mitigate any impact on supply.”
Business insiders say rival bottling amenities — equivalent to Kingsland and Greencroft — could possibly ramp up manufacturing to scale back strain, but it surely stays unclear whether or not they can fill the potential hole if the strike is extended.
The Wine and Spirit Commerce Affiliation and several other main supermarkets have been approached for remark. For now, retailers and customers alike are watching intently — with summer time wine cabinets doubtlessly vulnerable to working dry.
