Anheuser-Busch Drivers Vote Down Contract Offer

A three-month old strike at the Anheuser-Busch beer shipping plant in Sylmar continues, as truck drivers unanimously voted down a management contract proposal on June 10.

Members of Local 896 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America turned down the offer, according to Chuck Roberts, secretary-treasurer of the local, because the offer was identical to earlier ones.

Seventy-seven Teamsters walked off the job at the Sylmar plant on March 16 after a new delivery system was proposed that union members fear will take away guarantees for senior drivers of a full work schedule. Since then, about 45 Anheuser-Busch management personnel have been making beer deliveries.

Roberts said the latest offer contained no changes in management’s proposal for a new beer delivery system. But Roberts said the union is willing to accept the company’s wage offers.

There have been no negotiations, however, in the past two weeks, Roberts said.