1953 Milwaukee brewery strike

Labor dispute in Wisconsin, United States June 2021 June 2021 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States 1953 Milwaukee brewery strike Brewery Workers Local 9 * A. Gettelman Brewing Company Independent Milwaukee Brewery Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company Miller Brewing Company Pabst Brewing Company Valentin Blatz Brewing Company * Increased wages Reduced hours Improvements to health and pension plans Additional holidays * Walkout Strike action May 14 – July 29, 1953(05 14 1953 07 29 1953) New labor contracts favorable to the union The 1953 Milwaukee brewery strike was a strike action involving approximately 7,100 workers at six breweries in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The strike began on May 14 of that year after the Brewery Workers Union Local 9 and an employers' organization representing six Milwaukee-based brewing companies failed to agree to new labor contracts. These contracts would have increased the workers' wages and decreased their working hours, making them more comparable to the labor contracts of brewery workers elsewhere in the country. The strike ended in late July, after the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company (one of the smaller companies in the organization) broke with the other breweries and began negotiating with the union. The other companies soon followed suit and the strike officially ended on July 29, with union members voting to accept new contracts that addressed many of their initial concerns. Background Beer in Milwaukee thumb|Advertisement for the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company, a Milwaukee-based brewery involved in the strike The city of Milwaukee has a long history pertaining to the brewing industry and has been the home for numerous major breweries.Wild 2017 In the early 1950s, the Milwaukee-based Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was the largest brewer in the world and in 1952 it set a world record by churning out 6.35 million barrels of beer in one year.Mittelman 2008 152 Several years prior, in 1946, the Brewery Workers (the national labor union representing brewery workers) became affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).Ozanne 1984 95 The Local union representing workers in Milwaukee, Local 9, traced its history back to the late 1800s and was one of the most powerful unions in Wisconsin.Ozanne 1984 95 On May 1, 1953, the labor contract between Local 9 members and Milwaukee brewers (represented by a joint bargaining committee) was set to expire. Subsequently, Local 9 representatives submitted a new proposed contract, with items in the proposal included a $0.25 per hour wage increase, a reduction in working hours from 40 to 35 per week, additional holidays, and improvements to pension and health plans. These provisions were designed to put Milwaukee brewery workers on equal pay and hours as workers on the West Coast and East Coast of the United States.Ozanne 1984 95 Additionally, the union wanted to raise the weekly salary for workers in the bottling and brewing departments from $80 and $82, respectively, to $90.75.Wild 2017 At the time, the base hourly pay for Milwaukee brewery workers was $2.Ozanne 1984 96 John Schmitt, the local's recording secretary, stated that the reduced number of hours was due to increased productivity from advancements in machinery, with a Chicago Daily Tribune article at the time reporting him as saying "there are not 12 months of work for our people any more."Wild 2017 Finally, on May 14, 1953,Metro Washington Council AFL–CIO 2021Foran 2017Prosten 2021CWA District 4 2016note One source gives the start date for the strike as May 15.Ozanne 1984 95 after months of discussions that resulted in no agreement between the union and companies, approximately 7,100 members of Local 9 from 6 breweries performed a walkout, beginning a labor strike against the breweries.Wild 2017 According to a later report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the union members had "voted overwhelmingly" to strike.Foran 2017 The strike affected six brewing companies in Milwaukee: Schlitz, A. Gettelman Brewing Company, Independent Milwaukee Brewery, Miller Brewing Company, Pabst Brewing Company, and the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company.Wild 2017 Course of the strike While the strike shut down brewing throughout the city, many bars and other drinking establishments in Milwaukee had a stockpile of beer, avoiding a potential shortage early on.Wild 2017 On June 1, despite making no concessions to Milwaukee employees regarding working hours, Schlitz offered workers at a brewery in Brooklyn a reduction in weekly hours from 37.5 to 35 and a pay increase of $0.66 per hour more than the base pay rate in Milwaukee. This action increased solidarity among the Milwaukee strikers.Ozanne 1984 96 As the strike continued into June, drinking establishments in Milwaukee began importing beer from different breweries brewed in places outside of Milwaukee, such as Peru, Indiana.Wild 2017 On June 26, Local 9 members voted 6,274 to 348 to reject a $0.15 hourly wage increase that had been offered by the breweries.Ozanne 1984 96 At the time, the brewing companies were beginning to hurt financially due to the strike. While Pabst and Schlitz had breweries in other locations, the other companies only operated breweries in Milwaukee, causing them to be more greatly affected by the strike.Ozanne 1984 96 In late July, Blatz, whose only breweries were in Milwaukee,Ozanne 1984 96 broke with the other brewing companies and began to negotiate directly with Local 9 regarding a contract. Following this, the other companies followed suit and began to negotiate.Wild 2017 With Blatz having already secured an agreement with the union, the other companies were forced to accept the terms of the Blatz agreement, which included an hourly wage increase,note Sources vary on the size of the increase. A 1953 article in The New York Times claims the workers received a $0.20 hourly wage increase,The New York Times 1953b while a 1984 book published by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin gives the increase as $0.63.Ozanne 1984 96 two additional holidays, improvements to the life insurance and pension plans, and a 30 minute paid lunch, among other things.Ozanne 1984 96 In total, the strike lasted 76 days,Wild 2017The New York Times 1953b ending on July 29.The New York Times 1953bnote Sources vary somewhat on the exact length of the strike, with an earlier article in The New York Times titled "Milwaukee Brewery Strike Ends" dated July 27.The New York Times 1953a Other sources claim the strike lasted for 10 weeks,Prosten 2021CWA District 4 2016Metro Washington Council AFL–CIO 2021 11 weeks,Ozanne 1984 95 and "nearly eight weeks".Foran 2017 The end date used here is the one reported by the Associated Press as being the day union members voted to accept new labor contracts.The New York Times 1953b On that day, union members voted approximately 3 to 1 to accept new labor contracts with the 6 brewing companies.The New York Times 1953b Aftermath Following the strike, Blatz was removed from the association representing the Milwaukee brewers for their "unethical" actions during the strike.Metro Washington Council AFL–CIO 2021Prosten 2021CWA District 4 2016 At the 1953 Schlitz company Christmas party, Schlitz president Erwin C. Uihlein said the following regarding the strike:Wild 2017 Irreparable harm was done to the Milwaukee brewing industry during the 76-day strike of 1953, and unemployed brewery workers must endure "continued suffering" before the prestige of Milwaukee beer is re-established on the world market. The strike contributed to Schlitz's rival Anheuser-Busch (based in St. LouisWild 2017) overtaking them in 1953 as the country's largest brewing company.Skilnik 2003 544Mittelman 2008 152 Both Anheuser-Busch and Schlitz competed for the top spot throughout the 1950s, and Schlitz had held it in the two years prior to the strike.Mittelman 2008 152 However, in the years following the strike, Schlitz would rebound and continue to grow, acquiring numerous smaller brewing companies during the 1960s.Skilnik 2003 544Mittelman 2008 152 They again held the top spot between 1955 and 1956.Mittelman 2008 152 See also Beer Organized Labour 1981 Schlitz strike Notes note References Bibliography 30em yes May 14, 2016 May 14 https://district4.cwa-union.org/news/entry/may_144-d4 live https://web.archive.org/web/20210513125606/https://district4.cwa-union.org/news/entry/may_144-d4 May 13, 2021 June 1, 2021 CWA District 4 en CWA District 4 2016 Foran Chris May 1, 2017 10 moments in Milwaukee's past – May https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/2017/05/01/10-moments-milwaukees-past-may/100906114/ dead https://web.archive.org/web/20210601170449/https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/2017/05/01/10-moments-milwaukees-past-may/100906114/ June 1, 2021 June 1, 2021 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Gannett en-US May 14, 2021 Today's Labor History http://www.dclabor.org/1/post/2021/05/todays-labor-history5461671.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20210514123757/http://www.dclabor.org/home/todays-labor-history5461671 May 14, 2021 June 1, 2021 Metro Washington Council AFL–CIO en Metro Washington Council AFL–CIO 2021 Mittelman Amy https://books.google.com/books?id=PhqrqCb2kG0C Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer Algora Publishing 2008 978-0-87586-574-4 New York City en Google Books Ozanne Robert W. https://books.google.com/books?id=LycqkoYtWUUC The Labor Movement in Wisconsin: A History State Historical Society of Wisconsin 1984 978-0-87020-571-2 Madison, Wisconsin en Google Books Prosten David May 10, 2021 This week in labor history: May 10-16 https://labortribune.com/this-week-in-labor-history-may-10-16/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20210601171425/https://labortribune.com/this-week-in-labor-history-may-10-16/ June 1, 2021 June 1, 2021 The Labor Tribune en-US Skilnik Robert F. https://books.google.com/books?id=BuzNzm-x0l8C Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia ABC-Clio 2003 978-1-57607-833-4 Blocker Jr. Jack S. I: A–L 544–545 en Schlitz, Joseph, Brewing Company Fahey David M. David M. Fahey Tyrrell Ian R. Ian Tyrrell Google Books July 27, 1953 Milwaukee Brewery Strike Ends en-US The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1953/07/27/archives/milwaukee-brewery-strike-ends.html June 1, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210601125842/https://www.nytimes.com/1953/07/27/archives/milwaukee-brewery-strike-ends.html June 1, 2021 0362-4331 The New York Times 1953a July 30, 1953 76-Day Beer Strike Over; Milwaukee Brewery Workers Get 20-Cent Hourly Rise en-US The New York Times Associated Press https://www.nytimes.com/1953/07/30/archives/76day-beer-strike-over-milwaukee-brewery-workers-get-20cent-hourly.html June 1, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210601125622/https://www.nytimes.com/1953/07/30/archives/76day-beer-strike-over-milwaukee-brewery-workers-get-20cent-hourly.html June 1, 2021 0362-4331 The New York Times 1953b Wild Matt May 17, 2017 Remembering the Great Milwaukee Brewery Strike of 1953 https://milwaukeerecord.com/food-drink/remembering-the-great-milwaukee-brewery-strike-of-1953/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20201022170939/https://milwaukeerecord.com/food-drink/remembering-the-great-milwaukee-brewery-strike-of-1953/ October 22, 2020 June 1, 2021 Milwaukee Record en-US Category:International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers Category:1950s strikes in the United States Category:1953 in Wisconsin Category:1953 labor disputes and strikes Category:Beer in Wisconsin Category:Congress of Industrial Organizations Category:1950s in Milwaukee Category:Labor disputes in Wisconsin Category:Molson Coors Beverage Company Category:Pabst Brewing Company