Strike at DB

Strike at DB

The company that is doing so well that last week it offered free beer to everyone in New Zealand is today the target of a strike by angry workers.

Some 170 DB workers are off the job for 24 hours in protest over the company’s refusal to give them a fair pay rise.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union national secretary Andrew Little said that it was the first national strike at DB in more than 20 years.

“Last week, the company told the public that it had done so well over the past three years that it was celebrating by shouting every New Zealander a free beer, but it is refusing to share the good times with its own workers.”

Mr Little said that the workers were seeking a pay rise that was in line with the going rate of five per cent, and wanted it to apply to all wages and conditions. The company had offered a four per cent rise on wages only.

“There are also some other outstanding issues that the company has failed to address,” he said. The strike affects the Otahuhu brewery in Auckland, the Tui brewery at Mangatainoka, the brewery at Timaru and the Montieths brewery on the West Coast.

Workers are picketing outside the Otahuhu site between 7am and 11am.

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