Anchor Brewing Co. employees are unionizing

Well, an unnamed union at an unnamed employer, no contract available to cite - kinda hard to comment without facts. But in most industrial or other workplace unions (as opposed to the building trades unions where a worker might work for multiple employers, and might even be hired through the union hall) those "union benefits" are union-negotiated company benefits, which come out of the company's pocket and not paid out of union dues.

Companies, union and non-, don't usually agree to give PT/temporary workers full benefits and it often takes months or years to reach them (i.e., start with 2 weeks vacation after 3 or 6 month on the job, earn an extra week after every 5/10 years seniority, etc). The likelihood of someone negotiating a better deal on their own as a new PT hire in a non-union setting seems remote to me.

It sucks, unions typically don't like it (hell, it's the easiest way to divide the workforce) but that's the contract. I suppose it's understandable to blame the union for imperfect contracts but there was another party involved, one that has a huge financial stake in the outcome.

Again, the union officially ran the game, or did the rep simply organize it or just look the other way? I've seen those games played, never participated in them, and never got any flack from the union or my co-workers. The ones I've seen - and even been shown a "good hand" now and then - the convention was to fold the check so only the check number, not the after-tax total, was visible. (Hell, I thought everyone did direct deposit anyway these days, anyway.) And that was in a shop where all workers in a trade made the exact same wage and the yearly overtime was tracked on a bulletin board for all to see.

By "clock out half an hour earlier each day" he means earlier than after they lost the paid lunch period.

So, if, pre-contract, he was working 7am to 3:30, with an unpaid 30 minute lunch break, he now punches out a half hour earlier at three o-clock - working for a straight 8 hours, 7am - 3pm, with paid lunch. He's quitting work at the proscribed time, not earlier than allowed.
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Look - yeah, a union and a union contract can have faults, and they can be corrupt (usually that's to the benefit the officials and/or the company, seldom the rank and file)- they are, after all, operated by humans, kinda like companies. (Every job I ever had, union or non-union, I heard the mantra: "This place is really fucked up", and they were right. The jobs weren't fucked up in the same way, some were WAY better than others, some got better some got worse -why expect a job to be any different than the rest of life?).

But this concept that the "I heard this union did this / my union doesn't do this for me..." anecdotal evidence proves unions are simply no good just never made sense to me.

"Hey, my sister was married to this guy and they got divorced and he really screwed her and the kids financially. I'm anti-marriage."

"Whoa, you're going into the hospital for that operation? My buddy did that and the doctor fucked him up and he's been in pain for years. Oh, and it cost him $5k even with insurance. I'd never go to a doctor and sure would have medical insurance!"

"What - your deck caught fire and you called the Fire Department? Man, my cousin had a kitchen fire and after they put it out her TV was "missing". When she asked them about it she was told her insurance would cover a new one with a wink. If I can't put it out with the extinguisher or the garden house, I'd just let it burn."

"Cops? You called the cops after you were robbed? They're all on the take!"

"Craft beer? You drink that shit? I got this peanut-butter asparagus stout at a bar one time and nearly gagged. Craft beer sucks!"

 

@jesskidden : It was the 1990s, I don't remember what union, and the place was a really tiny company...so...no.

To expound a bit further on my earlier comment...it wasn't about PTO after 90 day probationary period, etc.

It was the lack of being able to use their unity, backing and their lawyer if a labor issue cropped up and I'm paying for that lawyer, etc. even as a seasonal worker. That one in particular kinda bothered me.

 

These days Anchor in NE Ohio has been in short supply, save for the steam beer & the holiday offering their stuff has been pushed out on these shelves.
Hope the unionizing works out as intended.

 

As an avid Anchor drinker and supporter for many decades, it saddens me to never be able to find most Anchor products around me in NE Ohio either....that is due mostly to a crappy distributor with sales people who are more concerned about pushing the next $18 - 4pk of over-priced swill, than selling a quality beer that has been around longer than most BA's on here; I have been to Anchor in SF and done their tour twice in the past year, have written to them about not being able to find most of their products out on store shelves, etc - to no avail.
All distributor salespeople seem concerned with is selling the "next big thing"....it is sad.
And, by the way, I have no problem with the Anchor employees in San Francisco unionize the brewery - do you have any idea how expensive it is to live in the Bay Area?

 

Indeed sad when the founders of an industry, Anchor being one of them are seen as "old hat" by the uninitiated & those selling & chasing the latest trends. I see this a lot in the younger drinkers shitting on established brewers who may not be as trendy adding multiple new offerings every time the wind blows. Good beer is good beer, every style has something to offer even if they may not be my first choice.
I realize certainly the insane cost of living in SF, I don't fault anyone from fighting for a fair wage to meet their cost of living.
As for Anchor it sure would be nice to see more than their basic offerings i.e. Old Foghorn, Porter & Brekle's Brown this time of the year.

 

Shit, I would be happy to find Steam and Liberty Ale - would love to see Porter - I brought back a sixer last October (and paid to check a bag with it in it) of Old Foghorn and some pounders of Steam - which I have never seen in NE Ohio.
Their distributor here sucks ass.

 

That's because the contract isn't publicly available. Your link is to a press release article.
Business Wire has the most detailed account I've been able to find

@jesskidden is likely correct about this. California mandates a 1/2 hour lunch break so a pre-contract “work day” would have been 8 1/2 hrs, this has now been reduced to just 8 hours (doubt they'll pay 1/2 OT every day).
The lunch break has to be, as reasonably possible, halfway through the shift so, while the employee can voluntarily work through a paid lunch break, the employer isn't allowed to time-shift the break so you can “take lunch” at the end of your shift.