Union Busting Ended My Love Affair with a Beer
Over many years, I have developed an intimate relationship with the sweet, lager taste of Yuengling Black & Tan. After moving to the cutthroat world of Washington, D.C. politics, I found that Yuengling always comforted me with memories of my working class roots and the world of flannel hunting jackets, wedding receptions at union halls, 4th of July barbecues, and tailgate parties that represented my native Western Pennsylvania. I took pride in introducing my friends to this beauty of a beer--cheap, delicious, and made by union workers back home in Pennsylvania. Women had come and gone, dogs had died, but Yuengling had always been there for me - until now.
This past weekend when I discovered that Yuengling had illegally busted their union, I was emotionally devastated. I had just bought a case of Yuengling earlier that same day and had it sitting at home in the refrigerator waiting for me. What would I do? I was broke and couldn't possibly afford to buy another case of beer, but at the same time I couldn't possibly enjoy drinking a Yuengling knowing what they had done to their workers. So instead, I found myself at home, watching a baseball game on a Saturday night, and enjoying a nice, cold glass of milk as I struggled to deal with how Yuengling had betrayed not only its workers, but me.
Quickly I found my outrage shifting from beyond Yuengling to the lack of U.S. labor law protecting workers from such abusive, unfair practices. It turns out that the company had petitioned for a decertification election to kick the union out of the brewery when the contract of the union expired. Dick Yuengling, the owner of Yuengling Brewery, gathered all the workers and told them that "the writing was on the wall". He said that if they didn't vote to kick the union out, he would close the plant, and ship the work to a non-union facility in the South. The workers, scared of losing their job in a region with high unemployment, voted to ditch their union and save their jobs.
While threatening to close a plant if a union wins such an election is highly illegal, the Yuengling Company has been able to get away with due to the weakness of U.S. labor law. According to a study recently released by Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University, employers threaten to close facilities in 57% of union elections if workers choose a union, despite the fact that this threat is carried out only 2% of the time. This is because under U.S. labor law the penalty for threatening to close plants or firing workers during a union election is that the boss merely has to post a piece of paper saying they broke the law.
As one longtime union organizer once put it to me "If the penalty for robbing a bank was you had to post a piece of paper saying you robbed a bank, we'd all be bank robbers!"
Under current U.S. Labor Law, employers can freely violate the law without serious penalty. As a result, workers are fired from their job in 34% of union elections and companies illegally threaten to close a facility in 57% of all union elections. In this economy, losing one's job is tantamount not just to losing more than just a job, but also to losing home to foreclosure and more gravely - one's health insurance. As a result of the ability of bosses to freely intimidate with such Gestapo-style tactics, 58% percent of workers indicate they would like to join a union, but only 8% of private sector employees are members of one out of the fear of what their bosses might do to them for trying to join a union.
The Employee Free Choice Act would give U.S. labor law real teeth - leveling heavy fines against employees who unlawfully intimidate or threaten workers. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to join unions free of intimidation a process of majority sign where workers merely would have to get 50% of their co-workers to sign a card to be part of a union.
Currently, The biggest obstacle to the passing the Employee Free Choice Act is quite ironically the very Senator who represents the workers at Yuengling Brewing - "Democrat" Arlen Specter. Quite ironically, Arlen Specter, who had in previous years voted for the Employee Free Choice Act, has fallen victim to the same type of corporate intimidation and flipped his position to being against the Employee Free Choice Act. Its time that Arlen Specter show solidarity with the 20,000 workers that are fired every year for attempting to join a union. Arlen Specter needs to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would protect the rights of workers to freely join unions that the overwhelming majority of his constituents favor especially the once unionized workers of a once dear friend - Yuengling.
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If you're such a Yuengling lover, and so concerned about the union...how come it took you two YEARS to hear this? Or is this really about trying to flog life into a Yuengling boycott -- that never caught on before -- to put pressure on Senator Arlen "Which Party Am I This Week?" Specter (D/R/D Penn.)? Looks like you're using the union for political reasons and didn't really give a damn about them before.
As an American living abroad who is listening, reading and watching what is going on in America, I am coming to the conclusion that you folks ain't going to make it. The wedge that has been driven between "you the people" has split your society. Union vs. Non union, lib vs conservative, you're with us or against us, etc.,, etc.................. I figure the rest of the world will move forward while you continue to squabble, point fingers and whine. You will ALLOW the politicians and corporate interests seal your fate. I believe it will take you 15 to 20 years to move beyond the sillness at which point the new world order will be lead by the likes of BRIC.
You want a public health option, learn from the Iranians. They are presently giving you a course in Democracy 101. Yes, it appears they will be beat down, but at least they are standing up for thier rights.................... As for Yeungling it's a great beer unfortunately unavailable where I live. There's lots of good beer in the States, cheap too.
I live in the city where the beer was king for years guess what since 1976 union busting was top priority for the industry in my area.Let's add a few more results for our now depressed area how about killing the coal industry,our wonderful chamber of commerce keeping out companies like Saturn,VW,Alcoa and other better paying jobs because they interfere with the lower paying industry's in the area.Well guess what all those lower paying industry's that our superiors were protecting moved to cheap paying country's like India & Mexico.So now our beloved area has warehouse's for Wal-Mart ect.and they hire illegal immigrants to do there work and again this area is depressed i want to personally thank big business for giving my grand kids no future so drink up everyone that beer could someday soon be brewed by a illegal immigrant or some one earning minimum wage soon.
What the new Act will result in, is more companies actually going ahead with closing shop to relocate to non-union areas or countries. Companies don't want unions. Companies see what has happened to the airline and automobile industries, as well as many others.
The unions were not running those industries and were proposing solutions (in the case of the auto industry) which would have reduced costs dramatically but were opposed by management many decades ago.
Are U.S. workers really that spineless that you would avoid anything that upset management or stood up for them in negotiations just in case they decided that it was easier to move the production to a low cost nation such as Indonesia? In that case just cut to the end result now and drop the average wage to that of the average Indonesian, why bother, go straight for the ultimate gutless, defeatist position.
Domestic auto companies failed because of legacy costs. GM, for example, as of last year had about 50,000 employees to support over 500,000 retirees. That was their problem, not additional token cost reductions that could have been done by management. Management had already been cutting costs for over a decade by the time they failed.
Since it is a FEDERAL act, there will be no place where a company can relocate in the USA where they can get away from unions.
Additionally, I would ask which industry was actually run by their unions??
Union Busting started with Reagan and the Republican Rich Pr__ks - let's end it with Obama and start sending back the "tea from Red China" along with all the other junk they've been sending our way like tainted food, kids toys covered in lead paint and tools which fail under hard use. Let's start buying American and by that I mean "union made in America" before we all work for the new world order led by WHO - Jin_ Paulson and his Goldman Polit Bureau.
Union busting started in the 19th century, a long long time before Reagan. Union membership as a percentage of the workforce declined substantially from 1975 to 1980, before Reagan became President, so their power was already weakening rapidly before Ronnie.
Yeah, union-busting began the same time union-organizing began; but it only prevailed when Insane Anglo Warlord took occupancy of the White House in 1981.
Union busting has been around as long as there've been unions, but it wasn't successful between FDR and raygun! Oddly enough, that time coincides with the biggest expansion of the middle class in HISTORY!!
What is the difference between a union threatening to strike for an extended time to break a company and the company threatening to move to break a union? Unless everyone is going to work for the government and turn the whole country into an inefficient, high cost, lazy, complaining workplace, unions will continue their descent into irrelevance. The old union mantra of "more pay for less work" does not work in today's private economy. Go get a unionized government job and help contribute to the eventual collapse of the United States.
Yeah damn those workers asking for a living wage and dragging the U.S. down with them. They should be glad to work whatever hours required and for whatever wages in order to maintain the ever widening gap between the rich and working poor, keep the U.S. stong and competitive with Chinese/ Indian/ African wages. You tell them Sir, 'More work for less pay' is the only sensible way to go is it not?
For many or most such jobs, the company could easily relocate and find people to do the same work for much less. It's supply and demand 101. Also, union companies are often uncompetitive vs non-union companies because of higher costs. And often times high costs turn a company into a money losing enterprise, which defeats the whole point of owning and operating a company in the first place.
The flip-side of a strike is a lockout. The flip side of moving a plant is a worker deciding he doesn't like the work environment or doesn't make enough money and finding a new job.
I'm sure Dick has every right to close the factory and move it wherever he'd like, putting all those people out of work. i wonder how that would play out PR-wise. What he doesn't have the right to do is threaten it as a tactic to squash unions. That's why there is a law.
In an economy where CEOs make 400 times the wage of the worker, is it any wonder we need unions to balance the scales. It would be nice if both sides played fair and waorked towards what was best for everyone, but that isn't the economy we have.
See Beth Borzone's Profile
It seems to me that it's the big Wall Street bankers, not unionized employees, that have caused the demise of the U.S. economy and put your beloved capitalist system at risk of failure. Ironically, it's the government and the working people (union and non-union) who are bailing them out. Perhaps if some of the banks had unionized employees, the employees would have had the courage to speak out when they saw dangerous patterns of risky lending.
great point Beth!
The government gets nearly all it's revenue from high income earners and corporations, not from working people. Half of all adults don't pay any federal income tax at all, so the "working class" basically isn't paying for any of this bailout. In contrast, the top 1% of earners paid 40% of the federal income taxes in 2006. The top 10% of earners paid 70% of the federal income taxes in that year. So it's the wealthy that are bailing out the wealthy. Also, mortgage lenders, and buyers, sellers, and writers of mortgage banked securities, and wealth managers, etc wouldn't want to be unionized, as their pay is mostly performance based. Unionizing such workers would keep the poorest workers in their positions and force companies to pay high wages for non-performance. It would also result in lower pay for top performers in the name of equality. Plus, such workers already get good pay and benefits, so what would they want unionize for? Would any of them really want to give a slice of each paycheck to a union heirarchy? I doubt it.
To start with, the difference is that one is legal. The other is not.
You figure out why.
Well here in New Hampster we have INBEV Bud and Harpoon.
I drink Tuckerman's Pale Ale I also drink Sam Adams products.
Many micro brews are big corporate brews.
My ex-brother in law introduced me to Yuengling many years ago. I really liked the beer and his feeling that the company had a close identification with working people.
All gone now. What a damn shame.
May I suggest switching to Iron City ? Ok, it certainly isn't as sweet as Yuengling, but it is still brewed in Western PA at the old 'Rolling Rock' plant in Latrobe and still has a union. Don't switch to Rolling Rock though - it's brewed in NJ after A-B closed the plant in Latrobe. And as much as I love Jon Stewart, NJ water (key ingredient) just doesn't have the same taste as Latrobe's water. I stopped drinking RR when they closed the plant, but I can assure you that somehow your taste buds will be able to adapt.
Ugh, anything but IC! I'd suggest something from Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh. Since you like the Black and Tan I'd think Penn Dark or Marzen would be up your alley.
Wow, a rare win for the good guys!
I'm going to buy some of their beer this coming weekend.
And please enjoy it as you are typing at the foxnation site stating how afraid you are of Obama .
Great article. Thanks!
No more Yeungling for me.
Friends don't let friends drink Yeungling
BINGO, baby!
Sadly, the only store in my area to stock and sell Yuengling's wonderful Black&Tan is *hock*hooey*spit* Wal Mart.
I made a point once of asking several local package stores WHY they didn't sell it.
"We'd like to", I was told, "but the local distributor has an exclusive deal with WM.".
GODDAMNED ANTI-UNION WAL MART HAS RUINED THIS COUNTRY!
.
Wal-Mart is da bomb!
I trust Wal-Mart with my money. I do NOT trust the government with my money.
I trust them too...to keep on enriching China at my expense.
I remember when the Union vote was coming up, and customers were asked to boycott the beer... My friends and I (all Yuengling lovers!) made sure to buy as much as we possibly could, so that we could break the boycott. Thank FSM all of our hard drinking paid off - and even better, we can now get it on draft here!
Perhaps the disgruntled employees will later start adding bleach and the like to it so you can enjoy it even more.
Oh...shades of that scene from "Fight Club"..heh
Is the threat of Union employees tainting their product supposed to make me more sympathetic to their side? I'm glad those workers are more respectable than you give them credit for.
I would assume that by my supporting the company which pays their wages, I was doing the brewery workers a favor... I will continue to buy and imbibe Yeungling proudly.
A little research shows that even though the Teamsters have gone, not much has changed. The workers still make an average of $20 an hour - it seems Union membership is superfluous.
"Little appears to have changed at Yuengling since the union got the boot.
The brewery continues to pay 100 percent of the cost of workers' health insurance, said Casinelli, the Yuengling executive. It also boosted wages by 3 percent last year.
The Teamsters "are hurting their own membership with this nonsense," he said. "Our brands are a significant source of income for wholesalers all over the state, many of whom are union houses, and I've not had one house throw our brand out."
Nor has there been much reaction in Pottsville. Yuengling has long helped anchor this gritty town, offering relatively high-paying jobs in an area where such jobs are scarce. Yuengling employs almost 200 people, most of them at the Pottsville brewery and at a second facility nearby."
http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1017784
The best way to support the workers is to buy their product!
it should be noted that a 3% wage increase is well below the cost of living increase (COLA) of nearly 6%. Any union worth their salt would have advocated for a 6% wage increase.
Also, your post draws on a false notion of unions that they only advocate for wage increase. Unions advocate for safe working conditions, against sexual harassment, and prevent management from over-working workers.
I'm switching to Yeungling!! Ask the workers in one year if they're happier.
This is almost too sad a post to comment on. I assume you're not one of the landed gentry in which case where does this level of self and class hate and delusion come from?
It's just sad, I feel sorry for you. Which part of "58% percent of workers indicate they would like to join a union, but only 8% of private sector employees are members of one out of the fear of what their bosses might do to them for trying to join a union." did you not understand and which part of the wages, safety and heath coverage I assume you do or have enjoyed which you have because union members fought and gained it for you did you never want?
Heck, we wouldn't have the 8 hour day if it wasn't for the unions and Mother Jones.
Considering the fact that most Americans would like to be members of a union, and now these workers will find themselves suffering through not having the protection of their mates..... I'd say that it's likely they will HATE their jobs in one MONTH, not to mention one year...
Aaaah, shaddup, you anti-union winger.
You're so stu.pid you can't even spell the brewery's name correctly.
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