Bud Light workers threaten to strike over job security, benefits

Thousands of workers at 12 of Anheuser-Busch’s US breweries are threatening to strike over contract disagreements on job security and improvements in benefits and retirement, saying "there won’t be any beer come March."   

5,000 workers represented by Teamsters voted by 99 percent last month to authorize a strike, according to the Guardian.

Teamsters wrote on X earlier in January, "Without a contract by February 29, there won’t be any beer come March." They will strike "if this multibillion-dollar corporation fails to deliver a fair contract."

The beer giant’s parent company AB InBev makes approximately a quarter of all beer consumed globally.  

Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said in a statement on the strike vote, "If Anheuser-Busch’s executives can’t get their act together to negotiate an agreement that respects workers, we will see them out on the streets."

Teamsters said that the union hasn’t met with Anheuser-Bush since November 16. During that last meeting, the company reportedly refused to negotiate on job security.

A spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch said in response to the vote, “We have a long-standing track record of reaching agreements with organized labor and look forward to resuming negotiations to reach a mutually acceptable agreement that continues to recognize and reward our employees.”

Earlier this month, union negotiators met in Washington, DC to draft a model agreement that union members at the 12 US breweries voted 94 percent in favor of ratifying, which will reportedly be presented to Anheuser-Busch this week.

The potential strike is the latest chapter in the beer giant’s fall from grace.

Following a disastrous sales slump in the wake of a marketing promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Bud Light lost millions in sales, billions in market cap, and its top standing as the number one sold beer in the US.

The marketing partnership backfired so dramatically that it brought down total beer sales in the US.