Anheuser-Busch’s turbulent year continues with the beer giant facing the possibility of a crippling strike.
On Friday, 99 percent of the 5,000 Teamsters working at the beverage juggernaut’s 12 U.S. breweries nationwide voted to authorize a strike if a new contract is not reached.
The union members represent more than one-quarter of Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. workforce.
“If Anheuser-Busch’s executives can’t get their act together to negotiate an agreement that respects workers, we will see them out on the streets,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said in a statement Saturday.
The labor union is demanding job security in the form of higher wages and better health care and retirement benefits.
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The union’s current contract with Anheuser-Busch expires on Feb. 29. Negotiations have stalled since mid-November, the Teamsters said.
On Saturday, Anheuser-Busch Teamsters nationwide voted by a resounding 99 percent to authorize a strike if the beer giant fails to deliver on a fair agreement. Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference Director Jeff Padellaro joined Local 469 members in Newark, N.J. on… pic.twitter.com/N3jbsyvZkf
— Teamsters (@Teamsters) December 18, 2023
A staggering 99% of the 5,000 @Teamsters at twelve Anheuser-Busch breweries have voted to authorize a strike.
If the two parties don’t agree on a new contract raising wages, protecting jobs and securing benefits in 2024, the workers could walk out and shut down production.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) December 18, 2023
Should Teamsters strike against Anheuser-Busch?
“Under pressure from the Teamsters, the company reached tentative agreements to end tiered health care and restore retiree health benefits last month,” the union said.
“However, Anheuser-Busch has delayed negotiating on important job security issues since mid-November, despite repeated requests by the union.”
No contract negotiation dates are scheduled, the union said.
At first glance, it’s easy to conclude that the looming strike is unrelated to Anheuser-Busch’s disastrous stunt to use transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney to promote its Bud Light brand.
However, in business, everything is sort of connected.
It’s no surprise that workers are demanding job security, which was compromised because Anheuser-Busch lost a lot of money amid a punishing backlash to the Mulvaney promotion.
As a reminder, there have been a series of ominous developments for the company this year, including a slew of executive exits amid a crushing conservative boycott that tanked sales of Bud Light.
Before the Mulvaney debacle, it had been the top-selling beer in the United States for the past 20 years.
In July, Anheuser-Busch laid off hundreds of employees following a consistent sales plunge.
In November, the company’s chief marketing officer stepped down amid a catastrophic sales drop.
It is now three financial quarters following the Mulvaney disaster, and Anheuser-Busch is still struggling to win back once-loyal customers after being steamrolled by a devastating conservative boycott.
This incident spotlights the self-inflicted damage Bud Light did when it used a man pretending to be a woman to promote its brand.
Woke mega-corporations should remember this the next time they cavalierly wade into the culture wars by trying to brainwash consumers with warped, leftist ideology.
