Diageo day of protest: Workers appeal to shareholders 'save our
jobs'
13th October 2009
Photo-Opportunity:
Date: Wednesday, 14th October 2009 from 1.30 – 2.30 pm
Venue: The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2 Savoy
Place, London WC2R 0BL
Workers from global drinks giant Diageo will lobby shareholders
tomorrow (Wednesday) ahead of the company's AGM in a bid to avert
900 job losses in Scotland.
The workers, all Unite members, will be pressing Diageo
shareholders to ask questions about the restructuring plans and
demand to see the union's alternative plan which will keep open
Johnnie Walker's historic Kilmarnock site, as well as the Port
Dundas distillery in Glasgow plants, and avert huge job losses.
Unite says the alternative plan is a more humane, cost-effective
way for a business of Diageo's international standing to do
business.
The workers, who are also Diageo shareholders, want the details
of the workers’ alternative plan - which would save the company
some £80 million - to be shared with fellow shareholders.
Outside the AGM in London, workers will be handing out a letter
to shareholders outlining the alternative business solution and
bearing placards with the message “Don’t ruin lives to squeeze more
profit".
Unite members are also planning to hand over a giant “message in
a bottle” to CEO Paul Walsh containing some of the hundreds of
messages of outrage ordinary people have expressed over Diageo’s
proposals.
Simultaneous protests will also be held at lunchtime by workers
outside the Kilmarnock and Port Dundas plants.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Karen Viquerat on 07768
931 316 or Pauline Doyle on 07976 832 861.
Unite representatives and workers will be available for interviews
at all three demonstrations:
Kilmarnock 12.30 – 13.00,
Johnnie Walker, 18 – 20 Hill Street, Kilmarnock, KA3 1HD
Port Dundas Distillery 12.00 – 12.30
74-80 North Canal Bank Street, (outside main gates), Glasgow, G4
9XL
Email to a friend
