Workers are protesting job cuts at the Scottish distillery that makes grain whisky for Johnnie Walker and Gordon's gin
The strike at Cameronbridge, Diageo's grain whisky distillery in Fife, Scotland, will now include days of full walkouts. According to The Spirits Business, the GMB Scotland union said on October 1 that, after two rounds of talks ended without a deal on September 27 and 30, its members will stop work entirely on October 12, 15, 19 and 22. Since September 28, workers had already been holding rotating strikes, planned to last 16 days.
The dispute is over job cuts. GMB Scotland says about 73 workers are employed at the grain whisky plant and that ten positions will be eliminated, two of them already vacant. The site's other union, Unite, has also called a strike: according to the British magazine Food Manufacture, about a hundred members are taking turns walking out from September 28 to October 15, at a plant with around 200 employees. The same report notes that Diageo cut nearly 2,000 jobs in its last financial year and that the group's Scottish business posted an after-tax profit of £595 million in 2025, down from £736 million in 2024.
The distillery makes the grain whisky that goes into the group's blends, as well as bases for white spirits. According to Food Manufacture's list, whiskies such as Johnnie Walker, J&B, Bell's, White Horse, Black & White and Vat 69 pass through it, along with Gordon's and Tanqueray gins and Smirnoff vodka. Several are in the Bebidário catalog, such as White Horse, Black & White, Bell's and Gordon's London Dry.
Diageo says, according to The Spirits Business, that it does not expect any shortage of its products because of the strike. The unions say the company did not consider the alternatives they put forward over three months of consultation. Unite also complains about the lack of detail on the redundancies and raises concerns about the safety and wellbeing of the workers who remain, since production levels will not be reduced.
The walkout comes at a difficult time for Scotch whisky. The day before, William Grant & Sons, owner of Glenfiddich, reported a 13% drop in 2025 profit, and Edinburgh's Holyrood Distillery paused production indefinitely, as Bebidário reported.
Sources: The Spirits Business (October 1, 2026), Food Manufacture (September 24, 2026).
