Running Dry: Belgium's Looming Beer Crisis (The 'ugly face of Capitalism', union job layoffs loom)

Time on Yahoo ^ | 1/21/10 | Leo Cendrowicz

[NormsRevenge]

If there's one thing Belgium is known for above all else - more than Tintin, chocolate and female tennis stars - it's beer. The Belgians have a rich beer-making tradition dating back to the Middle Ages and more than 125 breweries today; beer, it is said, is the very lifeblood of the country. But trouble is, literally, brewing. Supplies of Belgium's top brands - Stella Artois, Hoegaarden and Leffe - are rapidly running low ..

For nearly two weeks, picketers have stacked crates and set fires to block the entrances to the headquarters of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, in the city of Leuven, as well as other plants. The protesters have not only prevented any beer from leaving the breweries, they've also stopped the raw ingredients and packaging materials from getting in. At one point, workers at the Jupille plant near LiÈge even took their managers hostage for 11 hours, .. before finally letting them go the following morning. ..

The 800 jobs on the chopping block in Europe - 10% of AB InBev's total European workforce - may be a mere ripple compared to the tidal wave of layoffs across the world in the past year. But the proposed cuts - about a third of which would be in Belgium - follow the company posting profits of $1.55 billion in the third quarter of last year. This has angered the Belgian unions, who are taking a stand against what they see as an affront to the country's beer-making tradition. "This is the ugly face of capitalism," says Roger Van Vlasselaer, who heads the Flemish Brabant section of the ABVV-FGTB, Belgium's main union. "AB InBev are just thinking of their bottom line for shareholders, regardless of the social cost. There is no reason at all to fire people."

[GOP_Raider]

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[Diana in Wisconsin]

“First they came for the brewers, but I was not a brewer so I remained silent...” *SIGH*