More Woes for Anheuser-Busch as a Strike Looms

(Image credit: : Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

published 10 February 2024

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Drinkers of Anheuser-Busch beers may want to stock up very soon. A looming strike threatens to shutter its U.S. breweries later this month. Represented by the Teamsters union, 5,000 workers at 12 company breweries say they will strike at the end of February unless they get pay hikes, more job security and better retirement benefits.

99% of the workforce recently voted in favor of a strike authorization if there’s no deal when their contract expires on February 29. The brewer makes Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois, Michelob Ultra, Busch, Hoegaarden and others.

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The employment contract fight is the first that Anheuser-Busch will have to face with Teamsters president Sean O’Brien, who was elected in 2021. He led the union in securing a record contract gain at UPS last year, amid threats of a massive strike. Anheuser-Busch’s parent company, AB InBev, is keen to avoid a strike, after the boycotts it faced last year that caused its sales of Bud Light to slump significantly. The company doesn’t want anything to disrupt its robust profits in recent quarters.

This forecast first appeared in The Kiplinger Letter, which has been running since 1923 and is a collection of concise weekly forecasts on business and economic trends, as well as what to expect from Washington, to help you understand what’s coming up to make the most of your investments and your money. Subscribe to The Kiplinger Letter.

Sean Lengell covers Congress and government policy for The Kiplinger Letter. Before joining Kiplinger in January 2017 he served as a congressional reporter for eight years with the Washington Examiner and the Washington Times. He previously covered local news for the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune. A native of northern Illinois who spent much of his youth in St. Petersburg, Fla., he holds a bachelor's degree in English from Marquette University.