41-Day Strike Continues, Teamsters Boycott Coors and Miller During March Madness

(FORT WORTH, Texas) — Negotiations with Molson Coors broke off on Thursday over the multibillion-dollar beermaker’s refusal to agree to real wage increases for Teamsters in a new three-year contract. Members of Teamsters Local 997 continue to hold the strike line 24/7 at the Fort Worth brewery as a nationwide boycott of Molson Coors products continues.

In negotiations that included a mediator on Thursday, Molson Coors offered just five more cents per hour in its wage proposal to the workers who brew and package its signature beers. For months, Molson Coors had not budged from its original degrading offer of 99-cent per hour raises. Since workers were forced onto the picket line 41 days ago, Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley has been paid more than $5.1 million.

“Molson Coors is a total disgrace. This isn’t a serious offer from one of America’s biggest beer companies. It’s an example of the willful disrespect it has for the American workers behind its products. Molson Coors doesn’t care about Texas workers or their hard labor or the sacrifices their families have made to make the company rich. The corporate end game here is to try to drive the union out of the brewery in Texas. Molson Coors wants to break the workers,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Let me be clear — the Teamsters aren’t going anywhere. We will fight as hard and for as long as it takes to protect our members and get the wages they deserve. It shouldn’t be difficult for Molson Coors to agree to a respectable contract, unless their goal is to deprive workers of fair wages and strip them of good benefits and job protections.”

“Molson Coors brought in $12 billion last year, and they have the nerve to sit across from us at the bargaining table and offer workers who made them that money a nickel more in wages. We can’t even call this an offer — it’s spitting in the face of each of the 420 Teamsters in Texas who make this company and its executives obscenely wealthy,” said Jeff Padellaro, Director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference.

Molson Coors is a major sponsor of the NCAA’s March Madness. Teamsters will be out in full force in Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Los Angeles, Boston, and Phoenix, informing and urging the public to boycott Molson Coors products throughout the college basketball tournament.

Members of Local 997 were forced out on strike on February 17, after Molson Coors failed to come to terms on an agreement that rewards Teamsters with their fair share of the company’s record-setting profits. The union is seeking pay raises, improved retirement benefits, and to maintain good Teamsters health care.

Molson Coors’ fourth-quarter 2023 earnings were the company’s highest since 2005. The company boasted it delivered six years’ worth of profit growth in the last year alone. In October 2023, Molson Coors announced a $2 billion stock buyback for wealthy shareholders.

The Texas facility is the only major Teamsters-represented Molson Coors facility. It is the only brewery that services the entire Western region of the United States with Molson Coors products that include Topo Chico, Simply, Pabst, and Yuengling, among other major beverage brands.

On Feb. 28, more than 5,000 Teamsters who work at Molson Coors competitor Anheuser-Busch ratified by an overwhelming 86 percent a new five-year contract that significantly raises pay, improves health care and retirement benefits, and protects all members’ jobs. Teamsters make, package, and ship top Anheuser-Busch brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois, Michelob ULTRA, Busch Light, Kona Big Wave, and Cutwater Canned Cocktails.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

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