After a night of bargaining between Wednesday and Thursday, management and unions of Anheuser-Busch InBev in Belgium came to an agreement on the new collective convention for workers for the next two years.

The consultation took place "at the finish" because the unions threatened to launch a strike throughout the country if no agreement was reached. "Besides what the agreement guarantees - including €125 in 2009 and €250 in 2010 - we have secured an increase of the bonuses for shift work and seniority. In terms of employment, AB InBev also guarantees that there will be no plant closures, restructuring or relocation of activities until June 2011. This is the first time that such a promise is made", commented Luc Gysemberg from ACV-CSC. For its part, the management reacted also positively to the agreement reached on Thursday at 03:00 am. "We are pleased to be able to find a constructive and positive, a balanced agreement addressing both the purchasing power and jobs. We see this as a positive result as well for workers than for organisation".