Visit to support Leinie’s strikers

On a hot July 28th afternoon, Drinks In The Seats® arrived to greet many of the 40 or so strikers to give them “meal packs” & other DITS parafernalia that were paid for by the commissioned proceeds of some of the drink sales made possible from games played in the previous Milwaukee homestand which concluded earlier in the week.

The strike by the “Leinie’s” brewery workers (represented by Teamsters Local 662) in Chippewa Falls, WI that began July 10th is said to be mainly because of the inequitable wage increases and don’t keep pace with the rate of inflation.

The two conflicts that the Milwaukee baseball stadium beer vendors found themselves in at the start of the first Milwaukee homestand since the strike first began was that 1) Union sponsored secondary boycotts are illegal in most cases under the National Labor Relations Act (with these beer vendors represented by Workers United 122, vendors choosing not to carry the shandy that is brewed at the referred to brewery would’ve been an illegal act) and 2) The beer vendors were reminded by their employer (the Milwaukee baseball stadium concessionaire) prior to the start of the first game of that said homestand that the concessionaire needs to continue to fulfill their commitment that was made to the clients, so vendors choosing to sell replacement products such as water &/or soft drinks under the interpretation of an “individual boycott” might have resulted in disciplinary action with the employer.

For this year, in-seat alcohol vendors at the Milwaukee baseball stadium regularly carry six different products from the parent company of the strikers which includes shandy. In addition, other vendors will sell long island ice tea varieties exclusively during events there.