A UNION chief has accused global drinks giant Diageo of threatening workers as over 30 jobs in Glasgow are under threat.

As Diageo announced 35 jobs in Shieldhall and 75 in Leven, Fife could be lost in Scotland, Unite have claimed the move has been made just to threaten the Scottish workforce.

Diageo plans to move bottling to its Santa Vittoria plant in Italy and also plans to trial production of Smirnoff Vodka in the United States.

At a STUC congress Pat McIlvogue, a Unite regional officer said: “We are becoming more and more concerned that Diageo’s plans are not about saving money, but just about threatening Scottish workers and putting pressure on them.

"We are not convinced that moving bottling to Italy will save the company anything, and we believe the plans to move Smirnoff production will actually cost the company more.

“We believe Diageo wants to divide and rule, by moving work around the globe to make Scottish workers afraid for their jobs.

“Workers in Scotland help make massive, eye-watering, profits for Diageo - for the six months to December last year it made an incredible £2.1 billion. That was 16 per cent up on the previous year. This is a shocking betrayal.”

A Diageo spokesman said the company has entered a period of consultation with its employees to discuss proposals linked to the potential job loss.

He said: “Following the disposal of our wine business and the subsequent end of the wine bottling contracts, we have reviewed our spirits bottling footprint to ensure we not only deliver leading performance for both our domestic and export supply chains around the world, but also to strengthen our business for the future.

“We are committed to our three spirits bottling sites in Europe – two in Scotland and one in Italy.

“The outcomes of this review will ensure we have the flexibility to respond to increased competition and external volatility, alongside testing and building the capability we need across our global supply chain to grow our brands.”