A strike by workers at Guinness Ireland this Thursday looks like going ahead after a round of talks collapsed this evening without reaching agreement.
Talks between the Guinness Joint Union Forum - representing five of the six Guinness unions - and Guinness Ireland management finished without agreement after 8 p.m. at the Labour Relations Commission.
This leaves publicans facing an all-out strike from 6 a.m. on Thursday April 12th which will halt production and distribution in Ireland.
Strike notice was served last week in objection to the proposed closure of the firm’s packaging plant in Dundalk later this month with the loss of 140 jobs.
About half of the Guinness delivery fleet is owned and operated by the company.
About 12,000 publicans will suffer the consequences of a prolonged strike as supplies of Guinness, Smithwicks, Harp, Carlsberg and Budweiser are likely to run out quickly.
The Guinness Staff Union which represents about 800 technical, supervisory and administrative staff, will not strike.