Striking for an all-day happy hour

I’ve heard of many people getting fired for drinking on the job, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard workers going on strike because they can’t drink on the job.  You read that right, Carlsberg workers went on strike yesterday because they can no longer drink beer outside of lunch.  The story gets even better.  It’s not just the warehouse staff striking, it’s also the drivers.

Apparently the drivers claim a very old brewery rule stating, “workers can have 3 beers outside lunch hours”.  During lunch workers can have as many beers as they want as long as they do not get drunk.  The non-driving workers claim they share the right, so when the rule was removed April 1st the warehouse workers went on strike.  The rest of the staff, including the drivers who are exempt from the new rule, also went on strike out of sympathy (or they joined the strike because they know an off-site party when they see one).

Carlsberg brewery isn’t disputing the drivers’ right, just the right for the rest of the workers.  Drivers can still have three beers “to go” since they do not have time to eat at the cafeteria.  The brewer did note the Carlsberg trucks have alcohol locks so the drivers cannot drink too much and drive.  Remind me to never drive near a Carlsberg truck if I’m ever in Denmark.  Maybe that’s why they have universal health care?

My last job had explicit rules stating you could have one beer at lunch, but you could not return to work for the afternoon and you had to claim it as vacation time.  I don’t know what the current policy is at my new job, but I’m pretty sure I can’t have 3 beers during the work day.  I’d be ecstatic if they allowed one beer at lunch.