USA: Staff an Miller Brewing Co. will go on strike if new labor agreement can’t be reached

Staff at Miller Brewing Co. in Milwaukee "overwhelmingly" authorized on November 14 a strike if a new labor agreement can't be reached, the Saint Louis Journal published November 15. Milwaukee-based Miller is St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.'s top domestic competitor.

The workers are represented by the Office & Professional Employees International Union Local 35. The union didn't release the vote tally, but stated that nearly all of the 120 employees in the bargaining unit favored the strike authorization.

A prior contract expired in April. A series of short-term contract extensions have been enacted since then, the most recent of which expires on November 15.

A series of contract proposals, which have included a proposed pension freeze, minimal annual pay raises and increased employee contributions for health care insurance, have been deemed unacceptable by the employees' bargaining committee.

"We just can't afford it," said Judy Burnick, Local 35 business manager.

The majority of the employees in the bargaining unit are women who have been employed at Miller for more than 20 years, Burnick said.

Jan Wilson, the union's chief steward and a Miller employee for 29 years, said the proposed pension freeze is the main issue among the union members.

Linda Lokken, an accounts receivable clerk who has worked at Miller for 31 years, has to work nearly 10 more years before becoming eligible to retire, making the pension issue a top concern for her and a main reason she favored authorizing the union to call a strike if negotiations don't progress.

"It seems like the company is telling us that they don't want an older work force," said Lokken, who attended a meeting conducted by the union at a hall at 633 S. Hawley Road on November 14 night.

17 November, 2006