Workers represented by the Teamsters union at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Newark held a “practice picket” outside the brewery Thursday. The workers are involved in contract negotiations with the company and are demanding higher pay, increased job security and better health care among other demands. The deadline for negotiations is Feb. 29, and without a deal, a strike is possible.
A strike is “not something that you want to do, but if it comes down to it, that’s just what we have to do to get where we want to be,” said Jamil Davis, who works in logistics at the company.
“We’re coming out of a big year of strikes — 2023, there were a lot of big wins by labor,” Todd Vachon, an assistant professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University, said. “We saw the screen actors on strike, we saw the Writers Guild on strike. All of those were successful strikes that really demonstrated when workers come together and show solidarity, they’re able to make big wins at the bargaining table.”
