Employees at the Molson Coors brewery in Elkton voted to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union at the end of September. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
[sound of opening and pouring a can of beer]
The next time you quaff a crisp Blue Moon Belgian White, Miller High Life, or Coors Light, you may be drinking union-made beer. Hourly employees at the Molson Coors brewery in Elkton voted last month to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Local 29 chapter based in Verona.
The union also represents ABF Freight truckers, Danone and other dairy plant workers, Marshall's Distribution Center mechanics, and city employees in Charlottesville. The broader Teamsters organization also represents Coors workers in Fort Worth, Texas.
According to records from the National Labor Relations Board, union membership is now available to 411 employees in the Elkton brewery's production, maintenance, storeroom, and wastewater departments. In the vote held in late September, 359 employees participated – 57% of whom were in favor of unionizing.
JEFF VAUGHAN: Those numbers weren't actually that bad for a "Right to Work" state.
Jeff Vaughan, a 34-year employee of UPS, is the secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters Local 29. Virginia is one of about two dozen "Right to Work" states, where employees in unionized workplaces can't be forced to pay union dues to work there. As the Alliance for Civic Engagement explains it, proponents say right-to-work laws give workers the freedom to choose whether or not to join a union, and promote companies' economic growth by reducing union power. Opponents argue that, since the laws weaken unions' financial strength and bargaining power, that results in reduced wages and benefits for the workers.
VAUGHAN: I think that the 205 that gave us the thumbs up were just ready, and diehard from the beginning. We have to work on the other 154. I think that once they accept that the union's going to come in, and they're going to secure us better wages, better benefit packages, and give us a seat at the table – a lot of them just want to be heard, and this is their opportunity to be heard.
This development comes three years after the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers International Union failed to organize this facility. Vaughan said an employee reached out to the Teamsters last November.
VAUGHAN: We had a worker come in, and he was very excited about starting the process up again. I think he's been through a few attempts, but this time, he felt like it was different. … He felt that the support was a bit stronger than it had been in the past, and he came with a lot of people already interested. … You would think everybody just goes straight to money, but it wasn't like that. They were really looking for a lot of structure. … They really were disappointed in their healthcare benefits. They wanted a new healthcare plan. They wanted a pension plan. And they just wanted to actually have their voices heard.
In response to an interview request from WMRA, a Molson Coors spokesperson sent us a statement which reads: "we respect the decision by Molson Coors’ Shenandoah Brewery employees to be represented by the Teamsters Local 29 and will proceed appropriately while focusing on producing the beers and beverages our consumers know and love.”
In an October 5 press release, the union claimed the Molson Coors workers "overcame an aggressive union-busting campaign." Vaughan told WMRA the company conflated dues – which are 2.5% of a worker's hourly wage – with voluntary contributions to the union's political action committee.
On September 1, the union filed a charge against Molson Coors with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging they threatened "to retaliate against employees if they joined or supported a union." The federal agency dismissed the charge later that month due to the union's "lack of cooperation in investigating this case," according to case documents.
The Teamsters did not respond to WMRA's follow-up questions about the unfair labor practice charge.
The Elkton facility is one of Molson Coors' 22 breweries in the Americas. In addition to their Virginia and Texas locations, some breweries in Canada and one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – the birthplace of Miller Brewing Company, which joined Molson Coors in 2008 – are also unionized.
Vaughan said the Teamsters Local 29's next steps are coming up with a healthcare and pension plan that satisfies the Molson Coors employees, and selecting union representatives within the plant.
