Company's warning over strike threat by landlords.

(From Derby Evening Telegraph)

Pub company Punch Taverns has hit back at plans by the GMB union to ballot landlords on whether to take industrial action in protest at the amount they must pay in overheads.

Last week, the union announced it would conduct a ballot of landlords who are members of the GMB union over the beer tie, which means they can only buy their beer from pub companies such as Punch.

The GMB claims pubs are charged up to double the wholesale price of beer available on the open market and is demanding a GBP12,000 annual cut in payments per pub.

The union is also claiming that up-front fees and monthly rents demanded by pub …