‘No strike’ at Wick distillery despite union walkout at parent company; Old Pulteney in Wick said no staff walked out during a GMB Scotland strike at other sites owned by parent company Inver House Distillers
A pay dispute did not result in any strike action at a Caithness distillery during a wider walk out at its parent company, the whisky maker has said.
Old Pulteney made the claim after members of the GMB Scotland union staged a strike at Inver House Distillers on Thursday.
The company owns Pulteney Distillery in Wick, as well as four other distilleries in the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire - including Balblair in Easter Ross.
The walkout was in a dispute over pay, with members rejecting a three per cent offer and instead seeking a four per cent rise.
And although walkouts did go ahead at some of Inver House Distillers' locations, Pulteney has said none took place at its Wick distillery on the day.
A spokesperson for Pulteney Distillery said: “We can confirm that whilst one member of staff at Pulteney Distillery voted in favour of strike action on April 10, the planned strike did not go ahead on the day.”
In response, a spokesperson for GMB Scotland confirmed that its members working for Inver House Distillers had been involved in strike action on Thursday, and that all members at the company’s various sites had been asked to take part following a vote. But they added that membership numbers were larger at some distilleries than at others and it could not immediately say if walkouts had taken place at all of them or not.