by George Hetling
On March 6, the Teamsters Union announced that they had ratified a contract for their 5000 workers at Anheuser-Busch plants throughout the US, whose workers make Budweiser and other beers. This comes after union leader Sean Fain had previously stated that workers were “strike-ready” for March 1.
The union proclaims this contract an “historic” victory, yet it does not correspond with the workers’ actual demands. The contract was rushed through the voting process within hours of its delivery to workers, winning an 86 percent acceptance rate. Workers were threatened that the union would rescind the doubling of strike pay promised last month if they voted down the contract.
The contract gives Anheuser-Busch managers the ability to close breweries at will, one of the biggest points of contention in the last, rejected contract. Jobs will supposedly be “secure” through workers’ ability to be reassigned to “non-traditional” jobs and a creation of a “maintenance workforce.” Inevitably, workers who choose these reassignments will have to move across the country to keep their employment. Whether their pay will be preserved through these reassignments is an open question. Union lawyer Gabe Dumont admitted that brewery closures had been discussed with the company in a webinar that did not allow any time for questions.
Further, workers will receive an average of an $8 per hour pay raise over the next five years. This preserves the losses in real wages that Anheuser-Busch workers have experienced since the 90s.
These moves by the union are similar to the work done by the Teamsters bureaucracy last year regarding the UPS contract. Both are praised as “historic” contracts while really being nothing more than sellout contracts which preserve and even grow the profits of these monopoly companies. Already, UPS begun laying off thousands of workers since their own sellout contract was passed.
Photo: Anheuser-Busch workers rally, Teamsters social media
