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Unite and Fair Pint come together to save the great British pub

19th May 2009

LOCATION: Abingdon Green, Houses of Parliament
DATE: Wednesday 20th May 2009
TIME: 12 noon

Unite the union is linking up with the Fair Pint Campaign, an organisation campaigning against the pub tie, to take the fight to defend Britain's pubs to parliament this week (Wednesday).

The lobby is to highlight the stranglehold tied tenancies exert over publicans, which, according to Unite, is forcing many pubs out of business, is restricting consumer choice and raising pub prices. 

Both organisations are expecting a high turnout at the lobby which will be urging action in response to last week’s Business and Enterprise Select Committee’s report on Pub Companies (published on 13th May).

Licensees Unite, the section of Unite which represents 10,000 licensees in the UK, is talking with Fair Pint, among others, on joining together to maximise efforts to save the British pub industry.

Jennie Formby, Unite national officer for Licensees Unite, said: “We believe it is essential for all those who want to save the pub industry to combine forces and try to unite around a common agenda. While we may all have differences over the detail of what needs to be done, there are far too many groups campaigning separately, which can cause confusion.  

"Unite and ‘Fair Pint’ share a common agenda, and that is to support our licensees. Our pubs are the lifeblood of our communities but they are being choked out of existence by a number of different factors, with the current structure of the beer tie being a key element.

“The select committee said that pub companies are bullying their tenants. It is totally unacceptable that the majority of tied tenants earn less than £15,000 a year for a 100 hour week, significantly less than the national minimum wage. 

"We must now grasp the opportunity before us to look at and deal with all the issues that cause licensees to leave the industry before it is too late”

ENDS

For more information contact Jennie Formby on 07702206436 or Mark Di-Toro on 07918 640 579

Notes for Editors:   

• Fair Pint is a representative body of tied pub tenants which is organising a lobby of Parliament to urge action on the recommendations of the report on the 20th May.  More information about the lobby can be found here http://www.fairpint.org.uk/lobbyday.html 
• The Business and Enterprise Select Committee Report - Pub Companies - was published on 13 May. The report accused pub companies of bullying their tenants and highlighted evidence that tied tenants faced high prices for beer and high rents that are not calculated in a transparent way. The committee showed that the tie was increasing prices for consumers and restricting choice by making it difficult for small brewers to enter the market and called for the issue of the tie to be referred to the Competition Commission.