Petrelis Files

Red Stripe Lays Off 20 Employees

There's troubling brewing for a number of employees of the Red Stripe company in Jamaica, which is a prime target of our boycott, but let me hasten to add the boycott had no role in the loss of these jobs:

Two of the most recognisable senior executives at well known beer company Red Stripe, are among 20 employees who parent company Diageo Red Stripe announced Friday would be made redundant, in what it calls an organisational redesign of its regional operations.

Maxine Whittingham-Osborne, head of corporate relations and a popular personality with the Jamaican media, and director of Marketing Wayne Lawrence, will lose their jobs in the cost-cutting exercise effective June 30, 2009. ...

The boycott problably could not have come at a worse time for the brewer, and I hope the job losses serve as a spur with Diageo to re-start discussions with us organizers. We're ready for conference calls with Diageo's appointed liaison to deal with the boycott.