Hundreds of workers at Carlton and United's biggest brewery walked off on Thursday, and have raised the threat of further strikes against the beer giant.

Production lines came to a halt for three hours as the Abbotsford brewery's production and distribution workers attended a stop-work meeting in condemnation of the company's "trashing of Australian jobs", union officials said.

The feud between management and workers over temporary labour-hire workers at CUB's Abbotsford brewery is becoming increasingly hostile. Credit:Andrew De La Rue

The meeting also voiced concerns that the "inexperienced" temporary labour-hire staff, brought in to replace the brewery's recently sacked maintenance crew, are jeopardising site safety. Workers are warning of "escalating action" that could threaten beer supplies to bars and bottle shops if the former staff are not reinstated.

It comes as the brewery's sacked maintenance crew continues picketing outside the gates of the plant. The dispute has gone on for 10 weeks since 55 workers lost their jobs and refused to reapply for the positions on inferior pay and conditions with a new contractor.