NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | January 1, 2016 | PAGE 7
...Union-busting at General Distributors
From Page 1
the union offered to roll the ex-
isting contract forward three
years — no wage increases, just
keep current terms — and go
back to work. Company repre-
sentatives took less than five
minutes to reject that offer, then
packed up and left, after making
it clear that any settlement
would have to include retention
of the strikebreakers.
Later that day, strikers voted
to end their walkout with an un-
conditional offer to return to
work. The company refused to
take most of them back, claim-
ing their positions had been
filled. Of the 59 union members
still honoring the strike on Dec.
2, just 21 have been rehired.
Half the remainder are receiving
unemployment benefits, and the
other half have found other
work. As many as 19 General
Distributors strikers have been
hired by other Teamster employ-
ers, such as Sysco, and are earn-
ing more than they did at Gen-
eral Distributors.
Workers at General Distribu-
tors earn $16 to $19.50 per hour
under the union contract that ex-
pired Nov. 1 — low by union
standards, but not low enough
for company management. The
crux of the dispute is General
Distributors’ demand for the
same terms its competitor
Maletis is getting in a separate
contract with Local 162. Maletis
distributes Anheuser-Busch
beers locally, and Local 162
President Mark Davison says its
wages and benefits have always
lagged behind General Distribu-
tors.
Terms of the old contract are
still in force until a new contract
is reached, or until bargaining
reaches impasse, or until work-
ers vote out the union.
On Dec. 14, the company
asked the National Labor Rela-
tions Board to conduct an elec-
tion to see if the union still has
majority support among em-
ployees. Union supporters have
defeated four previous attempts
to vote out the union at General
Distributors—most recently in
2012, when workers voted 47 to
4 to keep the union. But this
time, the company presumably
intends to include the workers it
hired as striker replacements—
and exclude some of the union’s
strongest supporters, who’ve
been suspended from returning.
Local 162 is seeking to block
the union election on the
grounds that the company vio-
lated labor law.
Teamsters Local 162 has rep-
resented employees at General
Distributors for over 50 years.
And General Distributors,
owned by the Fick family, had a
reputation for fair dealing until
the current dispute. Strikers
blame the change on Irwin, who
was hired this year as general
manager, and on the attorneys
the company brought in this year.
General Distributors is repre-
sented by Ronald Williams of the
Lake Oswego law firm Williams
& Zografos, and Todd Lyon of
the nationally prominent anti-
union law firm Fisher & Phillips.
No further contract bargain-
ing sessions were currently
scheduled at press time.
The union launched a web
site—GeneralDistributors
Greed.com—to tell its side of
the story.
UNION BUSTING’S BITTER TASTE
A 1947 anti-union law makes it illegal
for the Teamsters to boycott bever-
ages distributed by General Distribu-
tors. But nothing prevents Labor Press
readers from taking a break from its
products until strikers are back on the
job. General Distributors distributes
the MillerCoors family of beers East of
the Willamette River as far as Hood
River. Brands include Miller and Coors
as well as Corona and Mike’s Hard
Lemonade. The company also handles
many dozens of other beverages, in-
cluding Arizona Teas, Kombucha Won-
der Drink, and V8. The full list is on the
company web site at generaldistribu-
tors.com.
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