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Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
Anheuser-Busch union members are ready to strike.
According to a press release from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Saturday, 99 percent of the approximately 5,000 Teamsters who work at the company’s 12 U.S. breweries voted to authorize a strike. The breweries produce some of the country’s most popular beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Busch.
The union said it wants an agreement that improves wages, protects jobs and secures health and pension benefits for its members. The current agreement expires on February 29th.
“If Anheuser-Busch executives can’t get their act together to negotiate an agreement that respects workers, we will see them on the street,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said in the news release.
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Teamsters said there were no dates set for negotiations. Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Strike authorization votes are a common practice in contract negotiations and may not result in a strike. Earlier this year, the UPS and Las Vegas Teamsters unions, which represent hospitality workers, approved strikes that were averted through new agreements.
The risk of a strike at Anheuser-Busch arises after the beer maker’s parent company, AB InBev, suffered losses in sales and share price due to a conservative-led Bud Light boycott. The backlash stems from the brand’s brief partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to promote a March Madness sweepstakes on social media.
AB InBev’s share price has largely recovered since then, with Friday’s closing price up 4.9% from the start of the year, but the boycott continued to weigh on the company’s performance. U.S. sales fell 13.5% in the third quarter, “primarily due to volume declines at Bud Light,” CEO Michel Doukeris said during an earnings conference call in October.
Originally posted 2023-12-18 09:58:28.