Belgium: Belgian brewer InBev was paralysed by a union strike on Wednesday, March 16 in its Louvain, Jupille and Anderlecht plants, Expatica posted on the same day. The industrial action by the FGTB/ABVV union was condemned by the management of Interbrew, the Belgian branch of InBev. The Socialist union is attempting to put wages up as part of a restructuring of the food and drink industry.

Other strikes were carried out earlier in the week by different food and drink companies. The union said InBev was targeted this time because it is the biggest Belgian company in this sector.

A 4.5 % salary rise across the industry was necessary but in large companies like InBev a bigger rise could be expected, said Hugo Coosemans from ABVV.

The Christian union said on Tuesday night that it would not take part in the strike.Only the Hoegaarden distillery and the international headquarters of InBev were not involved in Wednesday's industrial action.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .