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'I'm not drinking it now': VB on the nose as pubs join fight for brewery jobs

Nick Toscano

Several well-known Melbourne pubs have turned off their Carlton Draught and VB taps and removed many other popular beers from sale, as conflict continues to plague Australia's biggest brewer.

A union-led boycott fighting for the reinstatement of 55 laid-off fitters and electricians at Carlton & United Breweries in Abbotsford this week passed the 100-day mark.

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Trouble brewing: CUB protests hit the CBD

Angry unionists take to Melbourne's streets to support 55 sacked workers in the midst of the CUB dispute. Vision courtesy Seven News, Melbourne.

Trade unions have been urging drinkers to ditch some of CUB's best-selling beers – including VB, Carlton, Melbourne Bitter, Pure Blonde and Fat Yak – ever since the company axed a maintenance contract that put dozens of long-serving workers out of a job unless they agreed to take a large pay cut.

A number of pubs in Victoria and interstate have now leapt on board the boycott, removing CUB products from sale.

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Among the pubs backing the workers are landmark music venue The Tote in Collingwood, the Lincoln Hotel in Carlton, the Kent Street bar in Fitzroy, the Raccoon Club in Preston and, most recently, Sir John's Bar at Monash University.

"It's a moral stand we're taking," said Robert Price, owner of the Raccoon Club.

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"We will never stock Carlton products again."

The boycott threatens to add to the commercial woes of CUB, as it grapples with the plunging popularity of its biggest-name beers.

CUB owner SABMiller's latest trading results lay out concerns about the "continued decline of our mainstream brands Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught" in the Australian market.

But CUB this week said the unions' actions had failed to land a heavy blow to beer supply or sales figures.

"We are a big player in the market ... it's certainly not having an impact," the brewery's supply director Grant Peck said. 

"We are in a significant time of consumption in Victoria as we roll into the [AFL] finals, and there's not going to be any impact on availability."

Mr Peck said CUB management was disappointed that certain venues were "trashing" the brands that had served them well, and called the CUB boycott "counterproductive".

"The campaign is talking about how some of the 55-odd people desperately want their roles back, so it's counterproductive to be trashing the brand that they rely on to generate those roles," he said.

The months-long dispute comes after the 55 specialised workers lost their jobs after refusing to reapply for their old positions with the new contractor.

The fitters and electricians said the wages being offered – between $70,000 and $120,000 before overtime – were significantly less than the generous pay and conditions under which they had previously been employed.

But tensions between the beer giant and the unionised former workers, who have set up camp outside the brewery gates, appear to have hit a new high in recent weeks.

Police were recently called to question one of the picketers over an alleged assault on a labour-hire worker, while CUB has launched a blistering attack on what it calls a "pattern of antisocial and unlawful behaviour" by the unionists.

In a bid to "de-escalate" the ugly behaviour, the Fair Work Commission has made orders prohibiting unionists from calling labour hire workers derogatory names including "scab", "dog", "rat", "f--kwit" and "c--t"

Mr Peck said CUB had a strong union history, and was accustomed to major industrial disputes, but the brewer was growing increasingly concerned about the prevalence of bullying and harassment.

"I am alarmed at the way our industrial relations seems to be fought at the moment," he said.

"For me to resolve the dispute on the basis of [the union's actions outside the brewery gates] would just encourage the future use of this behaviour."

Electrical Trades Union organiser Steve Diston said the length of the dispute, and how much damage was inflicted on the CUB brand, was "up to them".

"We didn't start this dispute, but we'll finish it," he said.

"Our resolve has never been stronger and it's growing every day."

Hundreds of unionised employees still working at the brewery have raised the threat of "escalating action", including costly and disruptive walkouts, that could threaten beer supplies ahead of the AFL Grand Final if the former maintenance crew members are not reinstated.

CUB has been seeking to cut costs at the heavily unionised Abbotsford brewery to make it more competitive, saying the conditions negotiated over the decades had resulted in an "unsustainable situation".

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