Bars, bodegas and brew-lovers could be in for a rude awakening in the coming days as the city is staring down a potential major beer distribution disruption.
Hundreds of workers at Manhattan Beer & Beverage Distributors walked off the job on Tuesday and pledged to strike until negotiators reached a new contract agreement with management. Manhattan Beer is the city’s largest beer distributor and responsible for the local delivery of over 300 beer brands, including Corona, Heineken, Blue Moon, Modelo and Sam Adams.
Workers with the Laundry, Distribution, and Food Service Joint Board Workers United/SEIU are striking at four of the five Manhattan Beer sites around New York. Some are picketing outside the company’s Bronx headquarters. The distributor has about 1,640 employees, making it the region’s 35th largest privately held company, but not all of those workers are on strike. It’s not clear how many workers walked out.
The union alleges that the employer is pushing employees to ditch pension plans in favor of 401(k) plans, which they see as a downgrade, among other grievances.
A source familiar with management’s perspective said they disagree with that framing and insisted the pension program is broken, hence their push toward 401(k) plans.
Manhattan Beer founder and CEO Simon Bergson said both parties were back at the negotiating table today.
“We have made a very compelling and attractive offer after several weeks of negotiations,” Bergson wrote in a statement to Crain’s. “We are hopeful that the members will soon be given their opportunity to vote on our proposal for a satisfactory resolution.”
Bergson said the company’s doors remain open and downplayed the impact of the walkout. “We expect minimal disruption of service and have been able to continue to serve as much of the market as possible,” he wrote.
If the strike continues much longer, however, that will likely change. Manhattan Beer is responsible for something like half of all beers distributed throughout the city. New York is also uniquely prone to feeling outsized effects of short-term distribution issues; the space crunch means less room for storage and therefore a reliance on more frequent deliveries. It could only take a few days for some small business’ shelves to slim out.
The union did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Crain’s. It shared the aforementioned pension complaint with other local media outlets.
