Diageo announces £4 billion profit amid Scots strike ballot
The drinks giants profits went up by 9.5%
Last updated 25th Jul 2019
The Johnnie Walker maker today announced that it's operating profit for the year ending 30 June 2019 was £4.0 billion, an increase of 9.5%.
It comes a day after Unite the Union said they would be balloting 500 Diageo workers across all of the companies Scottish sites on whether to take strike action after pay negotiations broke down.
The company’s brands include Smirnoff, Bailey’s, Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Tanqueray and Gordon's gin.
Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive, welcomed the results:
"Diageo has delivered another year of strong performance. Organic volume and net sales growth was broad based across regions and categories, with new product innovation being a strong contributor." he said.
"These results reflect the steady progress we are making and as we look ahead we see attractive opportunities to deliver consistent growth and create shareholder value."
However Unite reacted by calling the actions of drinks giant "shameful". Unite regional industrial officer Bob McGregor said:
“Diageo’s announcement of an increase in pre-tax profits to £4.2 billions in the last year has been built on the hard work of its workforce.
"The company seem more than happy to increase their marketing budget by 8 per cent but refuse to give their workforce an increase anywhere close to that figure.
"This is a shameful position. It is only right that the workers benefit from the success and Diageo can easily avoid industrial action by making our members a fair offer.”
The union confirmed yesterday that talks mediated through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) had collapsed with Diageo following two rounds of negotiations.
Unite will also now ballot more workers across the three Scottish sites in Leven, Cameron Bridge and Shieldhall from 29 July.
The ballots will close on 16 August. If the ballots are successful it is likely that discontinuous strike action will take place from late August to November.
The dispute relates to the annual pay award with Unite’s membership overwhelmingly rejecting a pay offer of 2.5% which they describe as "derisory".
The workforce voted by 95% to reject the company’s pay offer. During the Acas talks the company made a new offer 2.8% pay award through the consolidation of the product allowance, which has been considered insignificant by Unite’s Diageo membership.
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