Bars in Denmark are concerned they could face a major shortage of draft beer after production was halted at a Carlsberg A/S-operated brewery following a dispute.
The brewery, situated in Fredericia, is where all of the company’s draft beer in Denmark is produced. Carlsberg also estimates it controls around 70 per cent of Denmark’s draft beer market, according to spokesman Jens Bekke.
Employees in the section of the brewery where the beer is put into kegs walked out on 14 August because new staff are not part of the same union all other workers are. Bekke said that there are 130 workers who have gone on strike out of brewery’s overall workforce of 800.
Carlsberg has around one week’s worth of stock of draft products, while it is normal for customers to hold stock that will last a week or two. Bekke said that Carlsberg’s only option was to replace some of the affected drafts with bottled beers.
Danish labour laws state that a company can’t ask whether a potential employee is already part of a union during the recruitment process. These laws also prohibit a company from firing the worker. However, the Danish labour court has instructed that those on strike from the Fredericia plant are fined hourly for each hour they remain on strike.