THE SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, has asked the Mayor of San Francisco to end his campaign of boycotting Bushmills whiskey.
Mayor Willie Brown, and: members of the Irish American Democratic Club, last month: poured whiskey into a city sewer. The club has accused the Bushmills distillery of discriminating against Catholics.
The latest figures from the Fair Employment Commission (FEC) suggest that only 10 of the distillery's 108 member workforce are Catholics.
Bushmills has strenuously denied the allegation which it said was "without foundation". In a letter to the mayor, Mr Hume said the distillery was located in "what is virtually a totally Protestant area, and it is therefore natural that be reflected in their workforce".
The company did employ Catholics, he said, and was working with the FEC to improve their representation. Every effort should be made to encourage investment in Northern Ireland, he said.
"It is self evident that it is the addition of jobs that we require, not subtraction, which would be the result of the campaign you are being asked to lead against Busmhills," Mr Hume said.
The company has argued that improved technology in the industry has left little room for creating new jobs in recent years and that in Bushmills' only expanding area - its visitors' centre - Catholic employment is 27 per cent.