72 °F
Workers at Anheuser-Busch's regional brewery in Houston, along with employees at the beer giant's 11 other breweries across the United States, are prepared to go on strike later this week if their union cannot reach an agreement with the company on a new contract.
The current five-year contract between Anheuser-Busch and the Teamsters Union, which represents about 5,000 employees at the 12 breweries in the U.S., expires Thursday. The beer-making facility at 775 Gellhorn Dr. in East Houston employs about 500 workers, almost all of whom are union members, according to Michael Silva, the principal officer for Teamsters Local 919.
Silva said he is part of the Teamsters' national negotiating committee and will be in Washington D.C. on Wednesday and Thursday, when union leaders are scheduled to meet with representatives of Anheuser-Busch to discuss key sticking points such as job security, wages and benefits. If a deal is not struck, Silva said brewery workers in Houston and across the country will go on strike Friday.
"For years, the (brewery) operators, our members, have picked up the tab for the company," Silva said. "The company has also used us for their commercials and everything else, saying ‘we're American-brewed by American workers.’ They don't mind using workers for their public appearance. When it comes time to give employees or members their fair share is where they're lacking.
"We have a motto right now: This round is on you," Silva added.
Anheuser-Busch, in a statement Tuesday, said it has a “robust continuity plan in place to ensure we will continue bringing our industry-leading brands to our valued customers and consumers across the country” in the event of a workers’ strike. The St. Louis-based company also said reaching an agreement with its brewery employees is a “top priority.”
Anheuser-Busch makes popular in-house brands such as Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob Ultra along with portfolio brands like Stella Artois and regional craft beers such as those made by Houston's Karbach Brewing Company. Silva said the Houston facility produces about 1 million barrels of beer per month.
The local brewery employs workers who brew beer, can it, bottle it and package it, in addition to people who work as engineers, maintenance professionals and operators of carbon dioxide tanks, according to Silva.
"Anheuser-Busch is committed to our brewery employees, and we remain focused on securing a contract that positions them and our company for shared, long-term success," the company said in a Feb. 23 statement on its website. "We believe that reaching an agreement before contract expiration is in the best interest of all parties, and we will continue to work toward a deal – as we have done time and time again over our 100-year relationship with organized labor."
The most critical issue for the union, according to Silva, is job security. He said employees at the local brewery were forced to take furloughs in 2009 but have not been subjected to layoffs during the 20 or so years he has worked there, although the possibility of a reduction of force is a concern for the workers because of "bad marketing decisions that have been made in the past."
Sales of Bud Light declined both nationally and in the Houston region last year after the company partnered with a transgender influencer for a marketing campaign and received subsequent backlash and boycotts from socially conservative consumers. Modelo Especial was America's top-selling beer during the month of May 2023, knocking Bud Light from a perch it had held every month since 2001, according to NielsenIQ data and Connecticut-based Bump Williams Consulting.
Silva said he is "definitely hopeful" a new contract between Anheuser-Busch and its brewery employees can be ironed out before Friday. If not, workers in Houston and elsewhere will walk off their job sites and join picket lines – just like the Teamsters-represented brewery workers did last week at a Molson Coors facility in Fort Worth.
"We want every member out there to know, once this contract is ratified, once we reach an agreement with the company, that employee is safe for the life of the agreement," Silva said. "No employee should have to work under a contract not knowing their job is secure and that at any given time, they could come in and be laid off."