Teamsters authorize February strike at Anheuser-Busch

About 5,000 Teamsters working at Anheuser-Busch voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if a new contract cannot be reached before the current one expires on February 29.

About 5,000 Teamsters working at Anheuser-Busch voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if a new contract cannot be reached before the current one expires on February 29. The union members, who work at 12 US breweries, represent more than a quarter of Anheuser-Busch’s US workforce. “Our members’ labor, talent, and sacrifice are what put Anheuser-Busch products on the shelf, and we are committed to getting a contract that rewards and recognizes their hard work,” said Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. “If Anheuser-Busch’s executives can’t get their act together to negotiate an agreement that respects workers, we will see them out on the streets.” The union said Saturday 99% of members voted to authorize the strike. Anheuser-Busch InBev did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment Sunday. Strike authorization votes — and landslide votes in favor of a strike — are an extremely common part of labor negotiations, as unions send a signal their members are ready to strike if they don’t agree to a deal. But the overwhelming majority of labor contracts are negotiated without the union following through on strike threats. For example, the Teamsters union authorized a strike by about 340,000 members at UPS, but reached a deal to avert the walkout about a week before the August 1 strike deadline. Strikes have become much more common in the last year. A database of US work stoppages by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations shows in 2023 there have been 70 strikes by 100 or more workers lasting more than a week, which is up 59% from the number of those significant strikes for the same period of 2022.