54 Workers at A-B-Owned Widmer Brothers Join Teamsters
Employees at Anheuser-Busch (A-B) InBev-owned Widmer Brothers Brewing have voted to join Teamsters Local 162, the union announced.
“This isn’t just about me,” organizing committee member and brew tech Josh Dunnivant said in the press release. “I organized a union with my co-workers to make our brewery and community safer, and to improve the quality of life for my fellow workers and their families.”
The election adds 54 workers at Widmer Brothers’ Portland, Oregon-based brewery to the 5,000 members of Local 162. The Widmer staff works in brewing, packaging, microbiology and quality assurance.
Widmer Brothers was part of Craft Brew Alliance (CBA), which A-B acquired in 2020 in totality after owning a 31.2% share. CBA was formed in 2008 through the merger of Widmer Brothers and Seattle-based Redhook. Previously, both breweries had sold shares to A-B to gain access to A-B’s wholesale network.
Workers began organizing after the sale to A-B to achieve pay parity with staff at other unionized A-B-owned breweries, according to the union. The Widmer staff “also have concerns about safety in the workplace, scheduling issues, and the quality of the health care plan,” the release said.
“It is wonderful to see these workers coming together to exercise their rights,” Teamsters western region VP and Local 162 president Mark Davison said in the release. “Fair pay, better health care, safety on the job – these are all things we’ll be working on in contract negotiations.”
The news follows last month’s formation of the Brewing Union of Georgia (BUG) by workers at Athens, Georgia-based Creature Comforts Brewing. Management declined to recognize the union and BUG filed two complaints of unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Although the road to unionize craft breweries has been bumpy, workers at larger breweries, such as A-B, have long belonged to unions.
