Miller Beer is Tasteless, Says Brewfest Audience at CA State Fair

At commercial brew competition, Teamsters and community activists warn that Miller's distributor is destroying good California jobs

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 125 members from Teamsters Local Unions 150 and 439 converged on the California State Fair today to provide information to the public about the greedy business practices of DBI Beverage, the distributor of MillerCoors products in Northern California. As the California State Fair kicked off another year of the Commercial Craft Brew Competition at Brewfest, DBI Beverage workers and other members of the Sacramento community distributed information asking fairgoers to "Tell Miller Destroying California Jobs is Tasteless."

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100127/IBTLOGO)

"DBI Beverage workers and their families felt they had no choice but to educate the public about MillerCoors' distributor, DBI Beverage, and its poor record on its treatment of workers," said Rome Aloise, President of Teamsters Joint Council 7 and International Vice President. "DBI, the exclusive distributor of MillerCoors products in the Bay Area, refuses to bargain a fair contract with its employees."

DBI Beverage earns more than $350 million in annual revenue, but still wants to force its longtime loyal drivers and warehouse workers to accept grossly substandard wages and an expensive family health care plan.

DBI workers in Sacramento and Stockton voted for Teamster representation in democratically-conducted elections by the National Labor Relations Board more than a year ago. They still do not have a contract.

"It is shameful that DBI pays such low wages that some workers are on public assistance," said Jim Tobin, President of Teamsters Local Union 150 in Sacramento. "We are here to tell DBI that after working a full 40 hours or more each week, workers deserve respect and a fair wage."

"MillerCoors and DBI are responsible to this community," said Sam Rosas, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 439 in Stockton. "We buy their products, and in return their longtime workers deserve a decent job with decent benefits. The economy in California is already in terrible shape, so this profitable company should be ashamed of itself for destroying these jobs."

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States and Canada.

SOURCE Teamsters Joint Council 7