Negotiators for Anheuser-Busch and the Teamsters union have announced a tentative agreement, heading off a possible nationwide strike that would have included the company’s 73-year-old factory in Newark.
The five-year agreement would significantly raise pay, improve health care and retirement benefits, and enhance job security, the union said in announcing the agreement Wednesday night.
A ratification vote by the full membership is expected next week.
The union’s current contract expires after 11:59 p.m. Thursday, after which approximately 5,000 employees — including nearly 200 in Newark — had been planning to walk off the job, prior to the settlement announcement.
“Teamsters make the beer, Teamsters make Anheuser-Busch successful, and our members deserve the best contract. That is what we fought for and won today,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien.
“Anheuser-Busch knew our members were serious and prepared to do whatever it would take to get a fair agreement,” O’Brien said.
The tentative agreement includes wage increases of $8 per hour, including an immediate $4 per hour raise in the first year, adding up to a 23% increase by the end of the contract.
Anheuser-Busch also lauded the outcome.
“At Anheuser-Busch, we have said time and again that our people are our greatest strength, and we are incredibly pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that continues to recognize the talent, dedication, and hard work of our teams, while also positioning the Company for long-term success,” said Brendan Whitworth, CEO, Anheuser-Busch.
Momentum in recent weeks had appeared to be trending toward a strike. The union had said it would double strike pay to $1,000 per week for Anheuser-Busch Teamsters nationwide. Strike pay is typically is offered by unions to reduce the impact of lost wages during a work stoppage.
A spokesperson for the union told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday it had yet to receive the company’s “last, best and final offer” — a term that refers to a last-ditch effort to resolve an impasse — despite having submitted a request for it Feb. 1.
Anheuser-Busch’s management had said it was looking at ways to continue making deliveries and maintaining operations, in the event of a strike.
While the near-strike involving the world’s largest brewing company was a national labor story, it also also had significant local interest in Newark, where the company’s plant is off Routes 1 and 9 near Newark Liberty International Airport.
The brands brewed in Newark include Budweiser, Bud Light, Busch, Busch Light, Natural Light and Rolling Rock.
The Newark factory drew praise in 2022 when it stepped in to brew Chernigivske, Anheuser-Busch’s most popular beet in Ukraine, after the company closed its three breweries in Ukraine leading up to the invasion by Russia.
There have been other labor battles at the site over the decades. Anheuser-Busch cut 60 jobs at the plant in 2015.
Stories by Rob Jennings
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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.