Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 6, recently approved the first union contract in the history of 123-year-old Anchor Brewing Co.
On Dec. 20, 62 workers at Anchor Brewing Co., which produces San Francisco’s Steam Beer, and includes Anchor Public Taps, the company’s brew pub, voted to ratify a three-year contract negotiated jointly with Anchor Brewing, owned by Sapporo Holdings, makers of Japan’s oldest beer brand.
“This is an important chapter in the history of the ILWU and in the history of one of the most storied and beloved beers in America,” said ILWU International VP Bobby Olvera Jr. “We believe that being a union-made beer is a selling point for Anchor. When people drink Anchor, they’ll be supporting fair wages and benefits for the workers who make and serve this outstanding and unique product.”
“We look forward to a strong future together with the newly formed union,” said Scott Ungermann, brewmaster for Anchor Brewing Co. “Anchor has a storied history and enduring commitment to making great beers and valuing the people who brew them.”
Key components of the Anchor union contract include:
- Compensation increases for employees over the next three years. (Increase amounts vary based on seniority and position, but in the first year of the contract, on average, workers represented by ILWU Local 6 will receive an approximate 8 percent increase in wages and benefits.)
- Time-and-a-half pay for all employees who work on a company recognized holiday.
- Maintenance of health insurance, with Anchor paying 85 percent of the premium for employees and 50 percent for dependents.
- Enhanced 401(k) with additional employer contributions tied to brewery production to promote shared interest.
- Paid half-hour lunch periods instead of unpaid lunch breaks.
- Paid time off now extended to part-time workers; formerly, only full-timers qualified.
- Pay for a portion of any sick time that employees accrue beyond their cap on hours for both full- and part-time employees.
As an example of the wage increases afforded to employees under the new contract, junior workers in the brewery will receive an immediate increase from $16.50 per hour to $18.50 per hour as of January 1, 2020. By the end of the third year of the contract, they will be earning a little over $21 an hour.
At Public Taps, the majority of the bartenders and bar backs will receive an immediate increase from $15.60 an hour to $18.25 an hour as of Jan. 1, and by the end of the contract, they will be making an average of nearly $20 an hour.
The history of San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Co. can be traced back to the California Gold Rush. In 1965, Fritz Maytag saved the brewery from imminent bankruptcy, and kept the legacy of San Francisco’s Steam Beer alive. The company says he started a revolution in beer that originated today’s craft beer movement, making Anchor America’s first craft brewery.
In 2017, Anchor was purchased by Sapporo. Sapporo employees at the company’s breweries in Japan and Canada have been represented by unions for many years and, now, San Francisco’s brewery has joined that list.
ILWU Local 6, based in Oakland, California, represents a broad spectrum of workers at companies including Guittard Chocolate, Heath Ceramics and Gallo wine distribution. Anchor Brewery and Public Taps workers voted to join the ILWU in March 2019.
