Miller is Tasteless, Says Sacramento Community at State Fair

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Jul 24, 2011, 12:00 ET

Teamsters Swarm State Fair at CalExpo with Shirts, Banners, Handbills

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 100 members of Teamster 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. Their leaflets and banners read, "Tell Miller Destroying California Jobs is Tasteless."

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

"After Miller was purchased by a foreign corporation, it hiked the cost of health care for its American workers," said Rome Aloise, President of Teamsters Joint Council 7 and International Vice President. "DBI is simply taking a page out of Miller's playbook, so it is no surprise that DBI is now doing the same."

Miller's distributor in the Bay Area, DBI Beverage, racks up 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 after democratically conducted elections by the National Labor Relations Board more than a year ago.

"The workers that warehouse and distribute MillerCoors products throughout Northern California are appealing to the community today," said Jim Tobin, President of Teamsters Local Union 150 in Sacramento. "We want our neighbors to know that in this devastated economy, DBI wants to destroy these good jobs."

"The cuts DBI is demanding will mean shrinking paychecks for these workers and their families," said Sam Rosas, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 439 in Stockton. "All these workers want is a contract that respects the work they do."

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