Business
Union authorizes strike against Bud Light parent company
By Jake Beardslee · December 24, 2023
In brief…
- Teamsters union votes 99% to authorize potential strike against Anheuser-Busch breweries.
- Current contract expires end of February 2024, job security issues unresolved.
- Union criticizes Anheuser-Busch's $1 billion stock buyback amid stalled negotiations.
- Anheuser-Busch says it's committed to good faith negotiations, but union threatens walkout.
The Teamsters union has overwhelmingly voted to authorize a potential strike against Anheuser-Busch’s breweries in the U.S. if a new contract agreement cannot be reached early next year. According to the union’s president, 99% of its 5,000 members who work at 12 Anheuser-Busch breweries voted to approve a strike “if Anheuser-Busch’s executives can’t get their act together to negotiate an agreement that respects workers.”
The current Teamsters contract expires on February 29, 2024. The union said tentative agreements have been reached on healthcare and retiree benefits, but job security issues haven’t been negotiated since mid-November. The union also criticized Anheuser-Busch’s recent “$1 billion in stock buybacks to wealthy investors” at a time when it has “simultaneously ignores the need to protect good jobs.”
An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Fox Business that the company is “committed to negotiating in good faith with the union to reach an agreement that recognizes and rewards the talent, commitment, and drive of our employees.” But the union remains prepared to strike, with its director stating “the Teamsters don’t want to be forced onto the picket line at any employer, but we are fully prepared to walk if Anheuser-Busch doesn’t get serious.”