Once again, we are witnessing a familiar and troubling pattern: a highly profitable multinational company mistreating the very workers who drive its success.
AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, recently reported strong Q1 2025 results — with shareholder returns, executive bonuses, and profit margins on the rise. But behind big figures lies a darker reality for thousands of workers across Europe.
From Belgium to Germany, France to the UK, AB InBev employees are facing deteriorating working conditions. Staffing levels are dangerously low, with retired or absent workers often replaced by temporary contracts. Health and safety standards are slipping, and unions report a growing pattern of intimidation and union-busting tactics by management. In some cases, social dialogue mechanisms are being actively undermined — in clear violation of long-standing agreements.
This is not a company in crisis. It is a company choosing to prioritize short-term gains for shareholders over long-term respect for its workforce. It is rewarding executives with 20% salary increases while cutting corners on safety and job security for brewery staff.
In response, trade unions across the AB InBev workforce have had enough. Under the coordination of EFFAT — the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions — workers are standing together in a coordinated action to hold the company accountable and discuss these growing challenges they face inside the company.
Demands of EFFAT affiliates across AB InBev include:
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Immediate reinvestment in health and safety to address dangerous understaffing and ensure a safe working environment.
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Protection of quality jobs and contracts, including halting the replacement of stable employment with precarious work.
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Respect for trade union rights and an end to threats and intimidation.
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A high-level meeting with AB InBev’s central management to restore genuine social dialogue.
This is not just a fight for fair treatment — it’s a demand that Europe’s largest corporations live up to their social responsibilities.
EFFAT and its affiliates are united: NO Workers, No brewing industry.
AB InBev must listen and act!
