Workers at Clare Rose, the Budweiser distributor for Long Island, have been on strike since April 23, when the company unilaterally cut drivers’ wages by 30% and ended the workers’ pension. After workers began the strike, Clare Rose notified both the union and the workers individually that they would be permanently replaced. Clare Rose has since brought replacement workers from out-of-state.
The latest charge alleges Clare Rose CEO Sean Rose‘s engaged in bad faith bargaining and attempted to undermine the workers’ labor rights. On Thursday, Sean Rose approached a group of union members on the picket line and said that if they would agree to give up their pensions, he would “soften the blow” on some union members. It is a violation of federal law for an employer to go around union representatives and negotiate directly with union members. The comments also show the two parties are not at “impasse,” the legal premise that Clare Rose used to implement draconian wage and benefit cuts.
Previous Unfair Labor Practice charges against Clare Rose accused the company of threatening union members and unlawfully reducing wages and ending benefit programs.