Tough Strike Continues at Molson-Coors Canada Brewery

Posted to the IUF website 25-Jul-2007

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The nine-week strike by 102 members of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) at the Molson-Coors brewery in Edmonton, Alberta continues with no end in sight to the conflict. CAW Local 284 took industrial action on May 30 in response to the breakdown in collective negotiations for renewal of the CBA. The company is demanding punishing concessions including a two-tier wage system which would establish a 7 dollar differential between new hires and existing workers, a similarly discriminatory two-tier pension system and a reduction in sick pay from 9 to 6 days per year.

CAW national and local leadership met with Molson-Coors representatives on June 28 in an effort to resolve the issues underlying the strike, but the company rejected a settlement based on alternative cost-saving measures proposed by the union and insisted on retaining the two-tier system, offering only a token reduction in the differential for new hires.

The CAW-organized Edmonton brewery recently won the Molson-Coors "World Class Manufacturing" distinction, contributing significantly to the company's pre-tax CAD 45.3 million profit in the first quarter of 2007.

Solidarity messages and financial support for the strikers are warmly welcomed by the union, which can be contacted by email at [email protected]