Teamsters and LGBT Community Celebrate Pride and Boycott Clare Rose
Parade Marshal Daniel Dromm calls for Anheuser-Busch Boycott
The honorary parade marshal for the Long Island Pride Parade joined Teamsters Local 812 in celebrating Pride and calling for a boycott of Anheuser-Busch beers and other Clare Rose products. Teamsters Local 812 members at Clare Rose, Long Island’s largest beer distributor, have been on strike since April 23rd, when the company illegally cut drivers’ wages by 30% and ended the workers’ pension.
“I am a gay man and I am a trade unionist – that is my identity,” said Honorary Parade Marshal Daniel Dromm, a New York City Council Member and former school teacher. “To drink Anheuser-Busch on Long Island these days is to support the mistreatment of Long Island workers. It is an honor to be a Pride parade marshal and I look forward to celebrating Pride without Anheuser-Busch.”
Teamsters Local 812 is marching in the Pride parade alongside the LGBT community and has a booth at the Pride festival market. The union is also flying planes with banners reading “No Pride in Bud,” above Pride events.
Teamsters Local 812 negotiated with Clare Rose for months without progress before the highly-profitable company imposed the huge wage and benefits cuts, causing the strike. After workers had been on strike less than one day, the company sent them letters saying they were being permanently replaced and directing them to the National Right to Work Defense Fund for assistance quitting the union.
“There is no Pride in Budweiser,” said Ed Weber, President of Teamsters Local 812. “I am proud of the long history of solidarity between the Teamsters union and the LGBT community. From Harvey Milk to the Coors boycott decades ago, we have been partners for social and economic justice. We are deeply thankful of the LGBT community’s support.”
Clare Rose’s heavy-handed tactics have tarnished the Anheuser-Busch brand on Long Island. Belmont Park and more than three dozen bars and stores are boycotting Anheuser-Busch, citing the company’s abuse of workers. Across Long Island, stores and bars are hanging signs reading “No Anheuser-Busch Sold Here Until Clare Rose Strike Ends.”
The Brookhaven IDA has also opened an audit of Clare Rose. The company has received over a million dollars in tax breaks from the IDA, but is required to maintain employment levels in exchange. Clare Rose’s decision to fire its union workforce likely puts the company in violation and the IDA can revoke future subsidies and even demand repayment of past subsidies.
Teamsters Local 812 represents more than 3,500 Teamster families working in the beverage industry. Its members produce, haul, deliver, merchandise, and sell soda, water, beer, and sports drinks throughout the New York metropolitan area.