The Teamsters and Anheuser-Busch reached an agreement on a five-year contract that includes an average 23% wage increase for workers, including an immediate $4.00 per hour raise (on average), averting a strike that would have taken 5,000 workers off production lines, CNN reports. The agreement is pending approval by union members.
While this is another victory in the labor-management partnership that has prospered in the Biden administration, it was also somewhat of a surprise given that the Teamsters walked out of a meeting on Wednesday afternoon, saying the company’s offer “continues to ignore many of the Teamsters’ key issues. They are lowballing workers on wages, they’re not investing enough money in our members’ pensions, and they’ve made no firm commitment on job protections.” Those issues were apparently addressed quickly in the follow-up meeting.