Chivas Brothers strike ballot starts over ‘corporate greed’ pay freeze

A union has started balloting whisky workers at Chivas Brothers over strike action in response to "corporate greed" attempts to impose a pay freeze.

GMB Scotland said the Chivas parent company Pernod Ricard had awarded pay rises to its workers in France earlier this year.

Discussions between the union and the employer took place earlier this month through Acas – but GMB said these talks collapsed when management suggested they were unwilling to lift the pay freeze.

The ballot runs until Monday May 10, with industrial action potentially impacting the company's Scottish operations as early as the end of that month.

GMB Scotland represents workers across its Scottish sites, including at Kilmalid bottling hall, Strathclyde Grain Distillery, The Glenlivet Distillery, and maturation sites in Speyside, Clydebank and Ayrshire.

Union organiser Keir Greenaway said: "Despite the many challenges that have faced the whisky industry over the past year, from Brexit to the US tariffs and through a global pandemic, the efforts of Chivas workers in Scotland have kept the profits rolling in for Pernod Ricard.

"These pay negotiations were an opportunity for the company to reward the workers for their substantial efforts with a pay offer that reflects the value of their contribution to the success of the business.

"It's not right that Chivas workers in Scotland should be treated like second-class citizens.”