Photograph by Caitlin Abrams
three beers
Let's be clear that union brewing goes back to the 1800's, and the majority of beer brewed in the US comes from union shops. Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser, all the bigs and their subsidiaries are. But craft beer evolved over the last decade, during a time when unions saw some of their strength waning. And beer workers have mostly been represented by manufacturing unions, not necessarily considered progressive by nimble and innovative start-up breweries.
But: times are changing.
Today, Fair State Brewing Cooperative has decided to voluntarily recognize the union formed by their employees under the local Unite 17 chapter. This makes them among the first craft breweries in the country to accept a union. Anchor Steam, largely considered to be America's first craft brewery, unionized by vote in March of 2019 (they were bought by Japan's Sopporo Breweries in 2017). But beyond that there hasn't been much movement towards organizing in craft beer.
Of course, a pandemic changes everything and union talk is bubbling in town. First, Tattersall Distilling successfully voted in a union, and now Spyhouse Coffee is on track to call for a vote. Both cited a need for staff safety during the pandemic as demands. Just this week the Stilheart/Lawless Distilleries organized. And of course, last week we saw the Surly Brewing taproom and restaurant workers seeking collaborative organization, only to have the company announce closure of that side of the business. Given Surly's past legal issues with employee wages, I can't say I was surprised that employees jumped on the union train.
But. Fair State is kind of known in the industry to be a pretty chill and progressive place. Their taproom employees already make around $17/hr, they qualify for benefits with 32 hours a week, they have parental leave programs and offer assistance to employees in other areas. It seems like there's no beef. Knowing that it's the employees who pay for a union through monthly dues, why would they bring someone in to represent them when it seems like the workplace is already working in their favor?
the taproom at Fair State
I talked to Anna Schmitz, a Fair State community manager and one of the employees who has helped organize the union. She acknowledged that they have a great relationship with the owner Evan Sallee, and in fact there already was an employee council in the company, but she sees unionizing as a benefit in two ways. "During contract negotiations, anyone who wants to be directly involved in the process gets to be there. Not just the union rep, but anyone who has something to say. It's creating that process. And it give us legal protections, in negotiating it gives us power."
I wondered about how much power there is during these pinched economic times. "First of all, we don't want them to go under, we have always kept that in mind as a cornerstone of this plan. We're actually not asking for more money or more benefits right now, we just want to get them locked in," Schimtz told me. "We're actually looking for smaller, no-cost ways to improve the company as a whole, like creating an employee handbook and hiring more diversity. There's a lot of HR structures that we are looking for."
It seems to me like they are looking for a footing in these chaotic times, within the craft beer industry that has been pretty loose as it's grown, and they see a union as offering them a shot at stability. I can't believe there's no employee handbook?! "Well, we did ask for one before, and you know it just hadn't happened yet."
For Sallee's part, he's actually excited by it. "I think this shows enthusiasm and passion on the part of our employees, that they want to take charge and work to make this a place they want to stay at long term. It's the democratic way. It's actually the next step in our business model so I'm sure we would have come to this at some point." Fair State is a consumer-owned co-op with members forming Sallee's board of directors. Though he wasn't required to check with his board before recognizing the union, Sallee said he did and found them to be supportive.
It's not just taproom employees, but the brewers and packaging employees, plus some office workers who signed union cards. The final eligibility and details of the agreement still have to be set. They'll begin their negotiations and work out a contract that may very well set a historic yardstick for craft breweries nationwide.
