Daniel Forrest, Teesside Socialist Party
A storm is brewing at Brewdog, Britain’s largest craft beer brewery.
Last week, Unite the Union’s hospitality section revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that Brewdog had written to its workers announcing that they will no longer be paid the ‘real living wage’, and will instead be paid the national minimum wage from April of this year. This has rightly outraged many online and doubtless many of the company’s workers.
James Watt (Brewdog’s largest shareholder) took to social media to defend the company’s actions, claiming that this was a 5% ‘pay rise’ – a cynical attempt to dress up what is in actual fact a real-terms pay cut.
It is true that the new national minimum wage of £11.44 is 5% higher than the living wage rate previously paid to Brewdog workers, which was £10.90 for 2022-23. But if those workers were kept on the living wage for 2023-24, then their wages would have increased by more – to £12 outside London and £13.15 inside London.
This may come as a shock to some, as after all Brewdog’s slogan is “beer, people, planet”. This can now be seen as nothing more than empty words and a marketing gimmick. It is strikingly hypocritical for a company that loves to portray itself as anti-establishment to pay its workers the bare minimum during a cost-of-living crisis, while its largest shareholder sits on a fortune of reportedly over £260 million.
Unite Hospitality organiser Bryan Simpson has said that his union is working with members in Brewdog to collectively challenge these attacks on pay. This should include organising a recruitment campaign within Brewdog workplaces up and down the country, linked to preparations to take strike action if necessary.
The Socialist Party fights against all cuts to workers’ pay, and for a minimum wage that is enough to live on – £15 an hour as a bare minimum. The trade union movement must take the lead in this fight, including taking steps towards building its own fighting political voice which backs workers all the way.
