Tentative deal made between Anheuser-Busch, Teamsters Union

TOWN OF LYSANDER, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Union Workers didn’t have to brave the snow on Thursday, staying clear of picket lines in Lysander, after Anheuser-Busch and the Teamsters Union were able to reach a tentative deal Wednesday night.

Anheuser-Busch and the Teamsters Union’s tentative agreement came after months of negotiations and thousands of union workers threatening to leave the job.

“Bottom line is we brought a ton of pressure to the company in sort of the waning hours of the contract and they stepped up and did the right thing,” said Jeff Padellaro, Director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference.

The five-year agreement now on the table, impacts 5,000 teamsters across 12 breweries, including local union workers at the bud plant in the town of Lysander.

“We’re taking care of everybody from top to bottom,” said Padellaro.

Part of that agreement eliminates the two-tier healthcare system for new hires.

“The new hires will no longer suffer that two-tier system. The more senior people will have their pensions protected and enhanced moving forward,” said Padellaro.

The beer company is also stepping up on job security.

“We were able to guarantee everybody’s job, everybody who is working there will have a job and they’ll be protected,” said Padellaro.

Protection they say, they deserve.

“These people worked through the pandemic, they showed up to work, they did the right thing and we put a ton of pressure on the company to give them their reward for doing that for the past five years,” said Padellaro.

A vote on the agreement is expected to happen next week, if approved, it will be retroactive to March 1.

“I’m optimistic that by the time the dust settles, we will have a highly ratified contract,” said Padellaro.

The contract will be brought to the membership, and workers will have the opportunity to review the contract and ask questions at their respective locations. Then the vote will be tallied by each location.

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