Diageo workers threaten to go on strike

Canadian workers at Diageo’s Amherstburg bottling plant have announced plans to go on strike if job security negotiations are not settled.

Workers at Diageo’s Amherstburg bottling plant in Canada have threatened to go on strike

Talks began in early November with concerns expressed over the number of employees being laid off.

D.J Lacey, president of union Unifor Local 2098, told The Windsor Star that workers are now frustrated by the “slow pace” of the negotiations and plan to go on strike if issues are not settled by the end of this month.

He said: “Our demands aren’t over wages or benefits or pensions. We need to get some investment in that plant.”

UK drinks giant Diageo relocated two Crown Royal product lines to bottling plants in Quebec and the US last July.

Out of the union’s 260 members, 66 are currently being laid-off.

“It affects the whole community,” Lacey told the Star. “We want to keep those good-paying jobs within our community.”