Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2008)
Are closures and and wage cuts coming? Teamsters worried about foreign buyout of Anheuser-Busch no impact on union jobs. By KEVIN MADDEN But the Teamsters are skeptical. The St. Louis Labor Tribune “After closely studying InBev’s and Press Associates corporate history and buyout offer,” ST. LOUIS — The Teamsters the Teamsters are concerned with Union — which represents 7,000 safeguarding “the unique legacy of workers at St. Louis-based Anheuser- Anheuser-Busch, a proud union com- Busch’s 12 breweries nationwide — pany and fear a buyout by American Belgian brewer ‘(InBev’s) management icon, built InBev will take by genera- the company techniques are partly of deep into debt, borrowed from corporations tions Teamster resulting in lay- workers,” offs and an ero- such as Wal-Mart.” said Vice sion of working President conditions. Jack Cipriani, director of its Brewery A deal to buy Anheuser-Busch — and Soft Drink Workers Conference. maker of Budweiser beer — for $52 Cipriani said the union assigned a billion was approved by its board in team of experts to examine the pro- mid-July, after they first rejected the posed takeover. offer and lobbied some congressmen After the deal was announced, Cip- to help block it. riani asked to meet InBev’s CEO to The board’s reversal upset the get an explanation of the huge debt In- Teamsters. Bev would take on and how it would Anheuser-Busch-produced beers be paid for without layoffs, closures, make up 46 percent of all U.S. beer consumption. If a takeover is success- and cuts in pay and benefits. The consensus on Wall Street is ful, the merged companies are ex- that InBev is offering an exorbitantly pected to control about 25 percent of high price for A-B, which would put it the world beer market. under heavy pressure to service the Teamsters are telling workers to debt by selling assets and slashing expect possible layoffs, wage cuts, costs. Speculation already abounds higher worker health care costs, infe- that the first thing to go will be the rior health benefits, and decreases in company’s other divisions, which are future pensions if the deal goes not directly beer-producing, such as through. its Entertainment Division, theme Almost 1,000 of the 7,000 Team- parks, and can manufacturing plant. sters’ members work at the corpora- “If the pattern InBev management tion’s flagship St. Louis brewery as has followed overseas is any clue, la- bottlers, brewers, oilers, security bor costs will likely be one of the first guards and Clydesdale horse drivers places it will seek to make cuts,” the and handlers, said Teamsters Local 6 Teamsters said. President Bob Gartner. One analyst told MarketWatch that But it isn’t the only union facing “InBev is run by a bunch of machete- the InBev takeover. wielding investment bankers who go Other union employees at the St. around and cut costs wherever they Louis complex are represented by the can.” Machinists, the Electrical Workers, The Teamsters say such an ap- Painters, Carpenters, Sheet Metal proach “could leave the new owners Workers, the Iron Workers and with a ‘demoralized work force and Plumbers and Fitters unions, Gartner tarnished brands.’ ” said. The union also says that Anheuser- In addition, building trades work- Busch retirees could be unprotected in ers employed by outside contractors the takeover. Workers’ current retiree work on projects at the brewery. health care protections are worth InBev said it would maintain all Busch breweries, predicted no signifi- thousands of dollars per year. If InBev needs to service billions in loans, re- cant job losses, and expected little or tiree health care could be a cost-cut- ting target. “Consumers and the public see Budweiser as the last of the great American beers,” the Teamsters Union said. The Wall Street Journal calls Anheuser-Busch “a potent sym- bol of Americana.” “But it’s more than patriotism that gives people pause about the InBev buyout. Workers don’t always fare well when outside conglomerates buy breweries,” the Teamsters warned. The union pointed to the buyout of Miller Brewing’s U.S. operations by South Africa Breweries. “Since then, SAB has demanded hikes in workers’ health care costs, elimination of overtime after eight hours, elimination of seniority rules and drastic cuts in staffing levels. At the three Teamster-represented Miller breweries, we successfully fought back those demands during contract negotiations. But those demands were implemented at the non-Teamster breweries. We don’t want that to hap- pen at Anheuser,” the union noted. In- Bev has adopted the management style of its Brazilian subsidiary, Am- Bev, of extensive cost-cutting and in- centive-based employee compensa- tion, the Teamsters noted. “It operates under a system that stresses raising efficiency and cutting costs — including labor costs,” the union said. “The company’s manage- ment techniques are partly borrowed from corporations such as Wal-Mart.” The Teamsters said InBev laid off Roger G. Worthington, P.C. leads the fight to find a cure for Mesothelioma cancer caused by asbestos exposure Since 1989, we have been dedicated to helping asbestos cancer patients get justice in the courtrooms and help in the hospitals. In the last ten years, we have recovered over $725 million for our clients. $34 Million: $20 Million: $12.6 Million: $10 Million: $8.4 Million: 60 year-old Navy veteran and carpenter 54 year-old engineer 69 year-old psychiatrist exposed at home 54 year-old woman exposed via father’s clothes 60 year-old Navy veteran and crane operator 800-831-9399 For a free booklet of medical/legal information, including medical experts, patient profiles, clinical trials and asbestos products, call us or visit our website. www.mesothel.com Mesothelioma typically K ramers/metro mailing service 3201 N.W. YEON PORTLAND, OREGON 97210 (503) 274-1638 FAX (503) 227-1245 THE ONLY UNION MAILER hundreds of workers in plants in Eu- rope and Canada, and has rocky rela- tions with employees and unions there. “Belgian workers struck over at- tempts to force longer work hours, close breweries and lay off hundreds. When workers at its Newfoundland Labatt plant struck, InBev hired an outside security force.” InBev closed Labatt’s Toronto brewery, wiping out 265 jobs. Roger Van Vlasselaer, national co- ordinator of the largest InBev union in Belgium, says InBev is pushing work- ers harder and harder: “They practice a brutal form of capitalism where only profit counts and everything else is disposable,” he says. We’ve helped hundreds develops 20 to 60 years after the first asbestos exposure. Each year about 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the U.S. of patients find the best doctors, coast to coast and we’re known for providing up-to-date medical information and patient education. Asbestos lawyers for life. Offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Dallas, Texas • Lawyers licensed in California, Oregon, and Texas IN OREGON Visit our Web site at www.kramersmailing.com MEMBERS OF TEAMSTERS LOCAL 223 — Eric Brending, Owner — AUGUST 1, 2008 Roger G. Worthington, P.C. has donated more than $2.5 Million to medical research working on a cure for mesothelioma — more than all the asbestos companies combined. NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 9
