DIAGEO IRELAND has claimed in the High Court that a picket of its James’s Street brewery in apparent support of industrial action by electricians has jeopardised the brewing process, could restrict the supply of Guinness and is placing significant numbers of jobs at risk.
Diageo, which produces one billion pints of Guinness a year, claims the picket lead yesterday to it having to cease the brewing process. If picketing continues and the brewing process does not start up within a very short time the yeast will have “died” within four days, and it would take between 21 and 28 days to resume full output, the company claims.
Restriction on the supply of Guinness would begin almost immediately in an effort to conserve the stocks, the company said. It claims staff would be impacted immediately, and it was likely the company would have to lay off a significant number of employees.
The company claims the picket is unlawful, and it yesterday secured a temporary High Court order restraining a named man, Jimmy Nolan, and other persons from picketing the brewery.
Tom Mallon, for Diageo, said the company believed Mr Nolan was acting in the interests of the TEEU and was being supported by other unidentified electricians. The court heard Diageo had not identified those electricians as members of the TEEU.
Mr Justice Frank Clarke made the interim injunction restraining the pickets, returnable to tomorrow.
In an affidavit, Colin O’Brien, site operations manager for Diageo Ireland, said some 220 people were directly employed at St James’s Gate brewery, with about 100 contract staff directly involved in the production of Guinness.
Referring to the current dispute between the TEEU and organisations representing the electrical contractors (Association of Electrical Contractors in Ireland and the Electrical Contractors Association), Mr O’Brien said none of their TEEU employees were in dispute with Guinness.
He said Diageo had not been advised by the TEEU it had any dispute with the company. In those circumstances, the company believe any picketing unlawful.
He said Diageo had until Sunday last used the services of Brooklyn Engineering Services Ltd, an electrical contractor, to provide seven electricians to carry out miscellaneous work at the brewery. The Brooklyn services were discontinued by agreement.
Mr O’Brien said pickets were placed at 8am yesterday at two entry gates to St James’s Gate brewery and were maintained by persons who were not employees of Diageo or, as far as could be ascertained, employees of Brooklyn.
He said Diageo had only been able to identify one person engaged in picketing, Jimmy Nolan. While not listed on the website of the TEEU as an official of that union, Mr Nolan was a director of a training company whose registered office was the headquarters of the TEEU. In the circumstances he believed Mr Nolan was s acting in the interests of the TEEU.
Diageo was unable to identify the other picketers but two of those had indicated they were electricians who “work at Pfizer”.
Mr Justice Clarke said the balance of convenience clearly favoured granting an injunction restraining the picketing but this should be for the shortest possible period so as to give Mr Nolan the possibility of making his arguments. He made the order returnable for tomorrow at 11am, adding that the order was also binding on any person who had notice of it.