Fighting for fair wages in Texas

Every day for more than two months, we have been on picket lines in Texas. No matter the weather or the time, we will be there.

We were forced to go on strike by our employer, Molson Coors. Molson Coors is a company that made $12 billion last year because of our hard work. In return, Molson Coors offered our Teamsters at the Fort Worth brewery an insulting pay increase of 99 cents an hour.

After more than two months of crisis, the company’s greedy and shameful position has not changed.

Well, the workers aren’t backing down either. We don’t accept crumbs from the companies that made us rich.

Molson Coors executives brag about how profitable the company is on calls with Wall Street shareholders. But when it comes to a good deal for the worker, they hang up.

This is sadly a common story in America. Global companies always boast of innovation and integration to improve their operations, but all they do is maneuver to further their profits. Working people are told to accept whatever is given to them. When large companies like Molson Coors talk about cutting labor costs and controlling overhead, what they’re really talking about is how they can reduce the number of employees and lower labor costs. .

It’s an operational mindset stuck in the past. In 2024, workers are standing up, striking, and getting what they deserve.

The Molson Coors CEO’s salary is nearly $10 million. For every dollar he earns in the Teamsters making his beer, he takes home his $281. We’re not looking to get rich. We just want to keep up with inflation and take care of our families. We will walk the strike line until we get the adequate wages, health care, and respect we deserve.

We are the backbone of this company, but we know that the only thing Molson Coors cares about is making its investors happy. Every time a new multibillion-dollar stock buyback is announced, it confirms what we already know: Molson Coors doesn’t care about us. We had to fight and fight and fight during contract negotiations just to protect what we had. The level of disrespect for workers is incredible. On two separate occasions, our bargaining committee waited hours for the company’s negotiators to return to the table. Even though they were leaving for the day, they didn’t bother to let us know.

We are the only major Molson Coors brewery in the United States with a Teamster union representative and in a so-called “right to work” state with unfavorable worker laws. The company’s reluctance to reach a new, fair deal with its workers means it has set its sights on destroying the union. But workers at other Molson Coors plants are keeping a close eye on us. I know we have a lot of support. And we will never be broken.

We are overwhelmed by the public’s support for a national boycott of Molson Coors products. We’re committed to producing Miller High Life, Coors Light, Milwaukee’s Best, Foster’s, Topo Chico and over a dozen other brands. We don’t want to harm these products or our employers. We’re calling for a boycott to pressure Molson Coors to do the right thing and agree to fair contracts with the workers who make this company successful. I want to go back to work.

The Teamsters are spreading the word to boycott Molson Coors products wherever they are sold, including grocery stores, beer stores, and liquor stores. Molson Coors advertises heavily during NCAA March Madness basketball games, so his colleagues and I recently handed out flyers and spoke to people attending the games. I heard that Molson Coors could have invested in its employees and struck a fair deal with us, but instead chose to send white-collar managers and hire temporary workers to do our work. The people are shocked. The company has had little success with this strategy. We are trained and skilled at what we do. These are no easy jobs, so if you want to get them done right, you need an experienced Teamster.

I’m a line mechanic at Molson Coors. Cans and bottles he has running on three different lines. If there is a problem, we will fix it. My job is to solve problems.

These days, my job is to be on the strike line, communicating with colleagues, answering questions, dispelling rumors from management, and working with local union leaders in Teamsters Local 997 to maintain momentum. is. It’s not fun to go on strike, but we are united and our spirits are strong. I’m optimistic that when I return to the factory, the atmosphere will be better than before.

Every worker needs to know the power they have. Companies can pay us a living wage and it doesn’t hurt their bottom lines. If we all come together, we can do better. I hope our strike at Molson Coors inspires other workers to come together, form a union, and fight for their values.

Jeff Pruitt is a line mechanic at Molson Coors in Fort Worth, Texas. He has worked at the brewery for eight years and is a proud member of Teamsters Local 997.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.