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Few products in American culture do a better job bringing families and communities together than beverages.
Whether it is meeting up with friends to watch a game at the local bar or gathering family and neighbors to celebrate life’s milestones, the products that my fellow Premier-Midwest Teamsters and I deliver help foster important relationships.
For over 30 years, Premier-Midwest Beer & Beverage and Teamsters Local 554 repeatedly negotiated fair union contracts. This time around, we were forced to strike due to the company’s refusal to offer a contract with concessions.
I have been a Teamster for 34 years and have worked at Premier-Midwest for 16 of those years. The owners were a part of our community and understood the challenges and needs of their
employees. We ratified contract after contract and received benefits that allowed us not to worry about taking care of our families, a weight off our shoulders that made us better and more productive workers.
This all changed when Texas-based Glazer’s Beer & Beverage acquired Premier-Midwest.
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Midwestern values mean nothing to this out-of-state corporation. While Glazer’s promotes being a “family-owned company” and management preaches that “we are all a family,” they came to
the table and redlined almost our entire agreement.
The concessions they seek would weaken seniority protections, eliminate just cause job protections and dramatically increase health care costs — provisions that would crush Nebraska families. This left us with no choice but to strike.
We have been on strike since Feb. 2, and Premier-Midwest continues to disrespect workers by failing to come to the table to negotiate a fair agreement. They’ve even brought in scab workers from out-of-state facilities to cross the picket line.
Premier’s refusal to give us a fair shake has impacted not only striking members and their families but also the broader community, whose businesses depend on our work. What Premier-Midwest fails to understand about family and Midwest values is that we stick together. Throughout this strike we have seen overwhelming support from our Nebraska community.
We’ve had folks honk, share messages of support, donate food and water and even spend time on the picket line. Knowing Nebraskans stand with Premier-Midwest Teamsters keeps us going. Solidarity like this matters more than anything.
My co-workers and I do not want to strike. We miss our customers. We want to work. We want to have stability. We want to continue to work hard for our employer while not having to worry about taking care of our families — as we have done for over 30 years.
Nebraska families work things out and find common ground. If we are family — like management claims — it is time for the company to come back to the table and work this out.
By refusing to give us a fair agreement, Premier-Midwest Beer and Beverage are turning their backs on the workers who have dedicated years to the company, the customers who rely on
steady deliveries, and the entire Nebraska community that relies on us to provide the products that bring them together.
Chris Carson is a warehouse and driver steward for Teamsters Local 554 at Premier-Midwest Beer & Beverage in Omaha.
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