Striking A Blow for Booze

Workers strike over ban on drinking at work
By ANNA RINGSTROM/REUTERS

(Reuters) - A few hundred warehouse workers and drivers at Danish brewer Carlsberg halted work for a second day on Thursday to protest a company decision to limit beer drinking at work to lunch breaks.

The strike in Denmark followed the company's April 1 decision to introduce new rules for employees on beer drinking at work, said Jens Bekke, spokesman at the world no.4 brewer.

"There has been free beer, water and soft drinks everywhere," he said. "Yesterday, beers were removed from all refrigerators. The only place you can get a beer in future is in the canteen, at lunch."

Bekke said drivers retained an old right to three beers per day outside lunch hours, and warehouse workers claimed the same right.

"Because of that, the warehouse staff went on strike yesterday, with other staff striking in sympathy," he said.

Bekke said as many as 800 had walked out on Wednesday, with 250 still on strike on Thursday, and the Confederation of Danish Industry and trade union 3F had agreed to look into the dispute.

He said there would be no shipments from Copenhagen on Thursday, and delays in the rest of the country, but said he expected the financial effect of the strike to be minor.

He added that Carlsberg's trucks have alcohol locks so drivers would not be able to drink too much and drive.

Not to put down my own country but in the game of drink the Europeans definitely have us licked. Most Americans can't even imagine the prospect of getting to drink at work (and not from a flask in your desk just to get you through the day). But it would seem as if the Danes at Carlsberg Brewery are experimenting with going down the Puritan route like us Americans. All I can say is - stop! There is nothing to be gained from not drinking at work. It just makes everyone that much harder to deal with. So hold strong Carlsberg workers. The fate of the drinking man rests in your hands.