As many as 800 workers at Denmark’s Carlsberg brewery walked off the job yesterday, after management restricted beer drinking to lunch hours and the company cafeteria. Previously, workers had access to beer around their work sites, and could drink at their own discretion. By now you’re probably either Googling “Carlsberg job openings” or wondering what the car angle to this story is. Actually, it’s more of a truck angle. Take it away, Associated Press [via Google]:
Carlsberg’s truck drivers joined the strike in sympathy — even thought they are exempt from the new rules, [Carlsberg spokesman Jens] Bekke said. The truck drivers are permitted to bring three beers from the canteen because they often don’t have time to have lunch there.
The trucks have alcohol ignition locks preventing the drivers from driving drunk, he added.
How’s your driving after three beers? Before you answer that, consider that not all Carlsberg delivery vehicles are created equal…
Wow.
I realize the Germans love their beer, but i would have thought for sure they would have disallowed drinking on the job long ago.
They even banned drinkin’ on the job at A-B in the 80s.
(Not that I’m against the practice…)
That would be Danes, not Germans….
Brainfart. Thanks.
Back in 2002 there were beer vending machines on the factory floor at the BMW plant/headquarters in Munich. Not sure if they are still their but I assume they are.
Discretionary consumption was permitted at Coors until (relatively) recently. My understanding is that this was discontinued when a contractor went a bit overboard, tried to drive home intoxicated, and killed someone in the process. It’s unfortunate that some people just can’t behave responsibly.
“How’s your driving after three beers? ”
Depends on the beer. I’ve had some Russian Imperial Stouts and triple ales that probably put me over the limit after one pint (9%+ alcohol content). Three of these in a 2 hours or less would probably make me to “happy” to pull out of the parking lot.
Carlsberg’s “Elephant” will do a number on you.
Or ‘Special Brew’. That stuff is pure evil.
“How’s your driving after three beers?” I don’t know, I live in Ontario. Three in two hours, you would be borderline. So I walk or take a cab.
To be honest I think I would be OK. The other part of me says,what if I had to brake for a child,and my reactions were off by a second?
So the answer woul be no.
Good the truck drivers are exempt. Management only tried to reduce alcohol related accidents ON THE PROPERTY. Apparently driving a truck with 3 beer in is not dangerous. Do they also drink before work? I mean I eat before I go to work, and eat at work too.
I once had a field trip to a company in Bavaria and they had a vending machine with soda, water and beer. In the 1990’s I worked in construction and at that time didn’t drink alcohol. Every trade was heavily drinking and they were giving me a hard time and I had to justify WHY I DIDN’T DRINK AT WORK. I just ended up saying I was afraid to get pulled over after work. Since many of my co-workers had DUIs,they had some understanding.
Legally back then it was allowed to drink at work. However, worker’s comp insurance didn’t pay if something happened while intoxicated.
While I could understand the brewmasters having a valid reason to drink at work, I find it charmingly European that the rest of the staff previously had a ‘at your own discretion’ policy and now under the new rules are still allowed a few beers at lunch.
All in all, a beer or two during your lunch break might not be a bad idea for US businesses, not enough alcohol to leave you impaired or seriously reduce productivity, but it might just increase morale.
It hasn’t been all that many years since the stereotype of a New York construction worker was eating lunch with a sandwich in one hand and a pint can of Schaefer beer in the other.
Something is drunken in the state of Denmark.
Scandinavia has had strict drunk-driving laws for over 50 years.
I work for a Swiss bank (in New York) and when the folks from Europe come over, they always marvel at the fact that they don’t serve beer in the cafeteria.
Vi Dansk folk ælsker øl. Jeg vill ha en Tuborg grøn med min smørrebrød.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of confusing Danes with Germans, it’s pronounced co-pen-hay-gen, not co-pen-hah-gen. A certain group of unwanted visitors pronounced it the second way so that pronunciation tends to rankle Danes of a certain age.
We used to have beers in the cafeteria fridge where I work. We weren’t allowd to drink out on the balcony where we could be seen (unless you poured the beer into something else), but there were no other restrictions. Not a whole lot of work got done on Friday afternoons :)
That was before the tech bubble burst. Oh well.
Most Danish companies do not pay for the employees’ lunch break, which means that you are actually not working while lunching.
The court decided that you are allowed to drink in your free time, but of course you must still be able to do your job.
Just a few years ago Carlsberg still delivered beer to pubs and restaurants on “Strøget” (a central pedestrian street) by horse carriage. That way the transportation of beer wasn’t restricted to certain hours of the day, and the drivers weren’t restricted by drunk-driving laws.
In the mid-eighties I lived in Denmark for a month when I was a teenager. At that time I marveled at how many brands of good beer there were, and how relaxed the Danes were about drinking it. It seemed like a great beer country (meaning, a country that made great beer and knew how to enjoy it sensibly). I hope it still is; this article gives me hope.