Brewdog workers protest on sale citing ‘years of catastrophic mismanagement’
The union that represents the workforce of Scottish brewery and bar business Brewdog is staging a demonstration today in a bid to rise up against the company’s proposed sale. db looks at the emotions behind the revolt.
The demonstration will take place at 6.45pm on 25 February at the BrewDog bar on Union Square in Aberdeen city centre and has been called by Unite Hospitality in response to the treatment of workers before and during the ongoing sale process at BrewDog, amid reports that the company is being prepared for sale or broken up into parts as part of a restructure.
Workers paying the price
The dispute centres on what Unite calls the company’s lack of consultation, the abandonment of the real living wage, widespread bar closures, and the slashing of contracted hours — all of which Unite has insisted have left workers paying the price for decisions taken at the top of the business.
Recent reports have confirmed that BrewDog is exploring options for the future of the business, including a potential sale, following what Unite described as years of cuts, closures and worker uncertainty.
Offering more insight, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This sale is the result of years of catastrophic mismanagement — prioritising private equity returns over workers and a sustainable business.“
Speaking to the drinks business, beer writer, author and certified cicerone Melissa Cole said that she believes that “the workforce of Brewdog deserves peace of mind and to be treated with dignity, but sadly I doubt that will happen.”
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‘Empty promises’
According to Cole, “this deal was always leading to this, the compound interest alone was never going to be achieved, and the empty promises of a million in shares and a better working environment were only ever sops to ensure profits over people”.
Describing how incensed the workforce of Brewdog had become by news of the business’s imminent sale, Graham explained: “You cannot talk about restructuring without recognising the real people whose rent, food bills and childcare depend on these jobs.”
Unite national lead Bryan Simpson said: “This is the collapse of a brand once sold to customers as anti-establishment, now being auctioned to the highest bidder while workers and small investors are left to pick up the pieces. Workers have already paid the price with the abandonment of the real living wage, widespread bar closures, and now slashed hours. We demand clarity on job security and what protections will be put in place for workers and we will use every industrial and legal lever available to defend our members and secure what they are owed.”
‘Distinct lack of consultation’
Aberdeen-based BrewDog worker Dennis Ellis said: “Yet again, workers across BrewDog have been left in the dark about what is happening with this sale. We found out at the same time as the press and have had one meeting with the CEO in which he said ‘there will be two weeks of uncertainty’ with no clarity about what happens thereafter. Our hours have been cut from 32 hours to 24 hours a week, despite being on full time contracts. That’s a loss of roughly £400 a month — during a cost-of-living crisis. This sale process – and the distinct lack of consultation from the company – simply deepens the insecurity workers have been living with.”
Brewdog co-founder James Watt has been hotly tipped to be considering a potential buyout of the business. But Watt’s potential return to run Brewdog once again has also been questioned by Cole who told db: “Watt returning would be hubris of the highest order”.
Last month, Brewdog revealed it was closing the distillery at its headquarters in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, shuttering the business indefinitely. Last summer, the Scottish brewer’s famous beer, Punk IPA, was hit by being delisted by pubs and bars – disappearing from 1,980 venues, pub industry data revealed.
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