Brewery tradesmen still striking in Auckland

Press, 16 January 1985, Page 19

Brewery tradesmen still striking in Auckland

PA Auckland Brewery tradesmen in Auckland and Hamilton and workers at an Auckland soft drink factory have decided to continue their strikes. The brewery tradesmen want a 27 per cent wage rise, and there is no end in sight to their three-week strike. The three breweries continue to produce draught, but no canned beer and onlylimited quantities of bottled beer. Oasis Industries - production of soft drinks, which include the Coca-Cola and Schweppes lines, has Tailed, and shops now have on their shelves virtually all the product that is available. The company’s tradesmen want an 11.5 per cent wage increase. Few hotels or liquor outlets have tried to bring

in beer from breweries further south. Lion Breweries in Wellington dispatched more than 8000 dozen bottles to the north last week, but has not noticed a’-y other unusually large orders. Leopard Breweries in Hastings has no stocks to spare, although regular deliveries of Lion beer produced there continue to be made to Hamilton and Auckland. About a third of the remaining brewery workers have volunteered to take holidays this week to avoid being suspended for lack of work. When holiday entitlements run out, suspensions will start for the 500 workers. At Oasis Industries, most of the 230 remaining workers are idle and management is close to starting suspensions.