MSPs Join Diageo Workers to Take the Pledge to Fight for Scottish Jobs

September 8th, 2009 LONDON - Diageo's announcement today (Wednesday 9th September) to reject proposals by the Scottish Government that would safeguard jobs has outraged Unite, the UK's biggest union. Unite is also furious that Diageo has made the announcement before the conclusion of the 90-day consultation period.

September 1st, 2009 GLASGOW - In the news release, "MSPs Join Diageo Workers to Take the Pledge to Fight for Scottish Jobs" issued on 1 Sep 2009 10:11 GMT, by Unite the Union over PR Newswire, we are advised by a representative of the company that the media contact information has changed and the MSP's name in the third paragraph should have read Willie Coffey rather than Patricia Ferguson as originally issued inadvertently. Complete, corrected release follows: MSPs from all parties are being invited to sign an oversized pledge card ahead of a major ministerial statement on Diageo's proposed restructuring in Scotland, which would slash 900 jobs and is being fiercely opposed by Unite the union.

August 26th, 2009 LONDON - Reacting to the release today by drinks giant Diageo of its yearly results, which reveal a leap in operating profits of 10 percent to GBP2,443 billion, Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, said: "Even in a global recession, Diageo can pull in billions of pounds in pure profit. Surely now Diageo's claims that it must cut Scottish jobs to reduce costs can be seen once and for all for what they are - about short-term greed, not long-term need.

July 24th, 2009 LONDON and GLASGOW, Scotland - On Sunday 26th July, Unite the union, will lead thousands of people from across Scotland in a march to defend Diageo jobs and the nation's whisky heritage. The march through the centre of Kilmarnock will unite ordinary people across Scotland who are outraged by Diageo's cold-hearted dismissal of a workforce which has built their worldwide reputation as it pursues ever-greater profits.

May 10th, 2009 LONDON - National March for Jobs WHEN: from 11am, Saturday, 16th May, 2009, LONDON, May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- WHERE: from Highfield Road, Birmingham B15, marching to Centenary Square, Birmingham City Centre WHO: Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson, Unite joint general secretaries; Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary; Lindsay Hoyle MP for Chorley; Jim Sheridan MP for Paisley & Renfrewshire North; Darrell Riley, from Birmingham, Alabama, unemployed steel worker from the United Steel Workers' union; plus other leading figures from the world of business and politics, including former trade minister and first time marcher Digby Jones, and thousands of workers from across the UK who are worried about their jobs and futures. National March for Jobs As unemployment rises across the UK and key sectors of the economy are battered by the recession, Unite, the UK's biggest union, is to bring thousands of people from across the country to Birmingham to march in defence of their jobs.

April 16th, 2009 LIVERPOOL, England - Photo and interview opportunities Date: Saturday 18th April 2009 Time: 11.30 am Venue: Bold Street (Lyceum Building), Liverpool City Centre L1 - Liverpool City Central Business Improvement District Workers at United Biscuits' Liverpool Binns Road site have kick-started a petition to urge United Biscuits not to go ahead with plans to move 170 jobs to India. Unite members at United Biscuits face an uncertain future while the company decides on proposals to move UK jobs abroad later this month.

March 30th, 2009 LONDON - Unite warned that the closure today (Tuesday) of the Visteon plants at Belfast, Basildon and Enfield once again pointed up the desperate problems besetting UK manufacturing, and hammered home again the need for strategic governmental support for the sector. The plants were put into administration at midday today, with the loss of approximately 600 jobs across three UK sites.

March 18th, 2009 LIVERPOOL, England - When: 10.00 am, Saturday 21st March 2009 - Where: Myrtle Parade/Bedford Street, Liverpool (see below) Hundreds of unemployed construction workers from across the North West will rally in Liverpool city centre on Saturday 21st March calling for fair access to jobs on UK engineering and construction projects. Unite is leading the fight to stop the growing problem of UK workers being refused work from important engineering and construction projects in the UK.

March 16th, 2009 LONDON - LONDON, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- When: 11 am, Tuesday 17th March Where: Scottish Parliament, outside the main entrance, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP. Unite members will today (Tuesday) gather outside the Scottish Parliament dressed in black and accompanied by a horse drawn hearse, to mourn the loss of key jobs and services in Scotland's voluntary sector due to funding cuts.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - Unite the union which represents hundreds of Forest Commission workers has today welcomed the Scottish Government's announcement to abandon proposals to lease up to 25% of Scottish woodlands to private companies. Unite, the UK's largest trade union, has also reiterated its call for the Scottish Government to also abandon its proposals to scarp the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB) which protects the terms and conditions and sets the wage levels for 25,000 workers in Scotland's agricultural sector.

July 1st, 2009 Diageo cuts 900 jobs, closes distilleryLONDON — Diageo PLC, the world's biggest spirits maker, said Wednesday it is cutting 900 jobs as it shutters a 199 year-old distillery and packaging plant as part of a cost-cutting restructure of operations in Scotland. Diageo, which makes brands including Guinness stout, Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky, said that the restructuring will trim costs by some 40 million pounds ($66 million) in 2012.

February 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Demonstrators at an oil refinery in Britain were Wednesday urged to abandon their protest after a deal was reached in marathon talks between trade unions and employers at the plant owned by French energy company Total. Trade union officials said they had won a pledge from management at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire, eastern England, that 100 new jobs would be created for British workers at the plant, the equivalent of 50 percent of the 200 posts under dispute.

August 27th, 2009 Diageo full year net profit up 7 pctLONDON — Diageo PLC, the world's biggest spirits maker, posted a 7 percent rise in full-year net profit on Thursday, benefiting from favorable currency exchange rates and cost-cutting amid weaker demand for many of its key products. The maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness stout cut its profit target for the current year because of concerns about the strength of an economic recovery — but also stressed that it believed the worst was over.

August 27th, 2009 Spirits maker Diageo full year net profit up 7 pctLONDON — Diageo PLC, the world's largest spirits maker, posted a 7 percent rise in full-year net profit on Thursday, benefiting from favorable currency exchange rates and cost-cutting amid weaker demand for many of its key products. The maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness stout cut its profit target for the current year because of concerns about the strength of an economic recovery — but also stressed that it believed the worst was over.

August 25th, 2009 Brown repulsed by Lockerbie bomber's welcome homeLONDON — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared Tuesday that he was "repulsed" by Libya's welcome to the Lockerbie bomber, saying that he immediately thought of the families of the 270 people killed in the explosion. It was the first time Brown has commented on the homecoming given to Abdel Baset al-Megrahi.

May 20th, 2009 LAHORE - The Taliban is forcibly recruiting young men and training them to fight against the army. A young Taliban operative arrested by security personnel from the Mata tehsil region of the Swat Valley has disclosed that the outlawed unit is recruiting teenagers in large numbers to fight against the military in the ongoing operation in the Valley.

January 29th, 2009 LONDON - Workers across Britain staged unofficial walkouts Friday in spreading protest over the hiring of foreigners at British refineries. Angry workers have walked out of a dozen refineries across Britain this week saying construction projects bagged by European companies were now planning to hire foreign labour.

August 27th, 2009 Diageo full year net profit up 7 percentLONDON — Diageo PLC, the world's largest spirits maker, posted a 7 percent rise in full-year net profit on Thursday, benefiting largely from positive exchange rate movements and cost-cutting amid weaker demand for many of its key products. The maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness stout cut its profit target for the current year because of concerns about the strength of an economic recovery — but also stressed that it believed the worst was over.

June 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Promising jobs with partnering industries, Scottish universities have managed to triple the number of Indian students heading there for higher education in the last five years, university representatives said here Friday. Enrolment in Scottish universities by Indian students has tripled over the last five years, said Caroline Boddie, senior international officer for southern and central Asia at the University of Glasgow.

September 25th, 2009 Argentine police, workers fight at Kraft plantBUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentine police have used force to remove laid-off workers occupying a Kraft Foods plant since last month. Authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets Friday against union members throwing sticks and rocks.