The West End Brewery site is worth $80m, which should mean better redundancies, union says

The United Workers Union is not backing down in its fight with Lion over better redundancy payouts, saying the huge value of the site should be factored in.

The West End Brewery site at Thebarton.

The West End Brewery site would sell for almost $80 million to a developer, the union representing brewery workers says, which should factor into more generous redundancy packages.

The United Workers Union has done its own valuation of the value of the eight hectare Thebarton site on the banks of the River Torrens, based on a development including 480 residential units.

The union has come up with a figure of $78.8 million, which it says West End’s owner Lion could realise if the site sold to a developer.

The union has been skirmishing with Lion over a bid for an extra year’s salary it wants in workers’ redundancy payouts, initially instituting four-hour rolling stoppages at the brewery, then picketing the site and blocking truck access.

Protesters at the West End Brewery in late November.

That action was banned by the Fair Work Commission this week, which ruled that it “is not consistent with the United Workers Union’s good faith bargaining obligations’’.

The union told The Advertiser on Thursday that the value of the site was about 40 times the value of the extra payments workers were seeking.

“The closure of West End Brewery is not only the closure of a site with historic links to South Australia and the loss of 100 South Australian jobs,” UWU food and beverage co-ordinator Mark Whenan said.

“What Lion doesn’t want you to know is that the closure of West End brewery is a massive $80 million property play that allows them to line executives’ pockets while short-changing South Australian workers.

“The amount workers are seeking as they face a historically bad jobs market is about 2.5 per cent of the windfall gains Lion stands to reap by selling the site – and that’s a very conservative valuation.’’

More than half of the 94 workers at the site are expected to lose their jobs when the brewery closes in the middle of next year.

It is understood the average redundancy payout is expected to be about $135,000.

A spokeswoman for Lion would not comment on the potential sale value of the site, but said the company was continuing to meet with workers.

“The decision to close the West End Brewery is based on the fact that we are running at 50 per cent production capacity and have been for some time now,’’ the spokeswoman said.

“This is not viable. This is a tough time for our team. That is why we have committed to working through this with them.

“We also remain committed to ensuring the team has access to re-skilling and training for future employment in SA. The terms we have offered are fair and reasonable, and we hope to reach an agreement soon.’’

Industry experts have previously told The Advertiser the site could be valued at around $60 million.

Urban Development Institute SA chief executive Pat Gerace said the value of the site would be a factor of the risks associated with it, such as what rezoning could be achieved, and any legacy issues which might be uncovered.

“There’s a level of detailed investigation and associated risk that any prospective purchaser would have to work through,’’ he said.