Carlsberg, one of the largest breweries in the world, was forced to consider importing beer after 130 of its workers from the Fredecia Brewery went on strike last August 14, effectively shutting down operations. Though Carlsberg always has about a week’s worth of draft products in stock and retail stores having their own stock as well, the week-long strike almost lead to a beer shortage in Denmark.
Local beer chuggers and visitors sampling the well-loved draft need not worry though because the beer company was quick to move on the issue, not only by looking into their supply from nearby countries, but by taking the legal route and getting the court to give Carlsberg the right to fire the striking employees if they didn’t go back to work. This ended the 9-day strike, as the striking employees went back to work and operations started again.
The labor dispute that severely affected the company’s operations was a dispute not between Carlberg and their employees, but between the union, 3F, and a new employee who refused to join the union. The courts ruled in against 3F since the European Court of Human Rights has laws stating that an employee has the no employee should be forced to a specific union when they are hired at any work place.
With operations back on track, Carlsberg's communications director, Jens Bekke, says that they are now focusing on how to adjust “production so that we can recover many of the products that were sold out”.
In the meantime, the rest of the world and visitors to Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark need not worry over having their favorite draft off the menu when they go to bars and restaurants.
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