Workers begin strike at City Brewing Company in Latrobe

Union employees at Latrobe’s City Brewing on Tuesday took to the picket line, stopping work at the plant in what they called a strike over unfair labor practices.

Brewery employees have been without a contract since March 3. They staged an informational picket the following day, with no work stoppage. Employees from the evening shifts picketed during the day, and day-shift employees took over following their shifts.

“We’re hoping to get back to the bargaining table. That’s the whole goal of everything … to get back to the bargaining table and get a fair contract settled,” Casey Villa, vice president of IUE-CWA Local 22, said Tuesday.

Union president Bill Palmer said the company hasn’t responded to requests from the union and that policies at the plant have been changed “unilaterally in retaliation to union activities in the plant.”

“City Brewery has spent over six months working hard to reach an agreement with the IUE-CWA union for our Latrobe brewery, and we remain committed to getting a strong contract in place for the benefit of our employees,” a company spokesperson said Tuesday. “Our most recent offer included significant wage increases for all covered employees — nearly 23% for new hires — upfront payments on signing, enhanced vacation accruals and competitive benefits.

“We have been meeting with our employees to ensure they have accurate information, and we will continue to negotiate in good faith to resolve any open issues and reach an agreement.”

During the March 4 informational picket, Palmer said management has tried to take away seniority rights that allow employees to pick their shifts, alleging management has been “trying to circumvent seniority throughout negotiations.”

The union represents about 50 members at the Latrobe plant. IUE-CWA Local 144 represents about 145 employees.

The unions have three pending unfair labor complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Board against City Brewery. Allegations include changing contracts, refusing to hand over information, changing the terms and conditions of employment and conducting coercive actions.

Palmer said some employees remain in the plant, specifically those who operate the engine room, including boilers, compressors and ammonia systems.

“If something would go wrong in there, it’s a danger to the building and anybody that’s in it and the immediate surrounding area,” he said. “So we did make sure that we kept those operators in the plant, but they are union employees.”

A spokesperson for City Brewery said this month the company would continue to honor seniority and job bidding under a new “last, best and final contract offer” proposed by the company.

City Brewery recently signed a five-year lease for a warehouse and distribution site at the RIDC Westmoreland industrial complex in East Huntingdon. It said the move was part of an effort toward “increasing our production operations to support additional customers.”

Ten union members are working at the site, where the company expects to add 50 to 60 jobs.

Latrobe Brewing, which was founded in 1893 as part of Pittsburgh Brewing Co., started producing its flagship Rolling Rock beer in 1939 after Prohibition ended.

City Brewing bought the property from Anheuser-Busch Co., which paid $82 million for the Rolling Rock brand in 2006 and moved its production to New Jersey.

City Brewing had shut down in late 2008, when Boston Beer Co. moved its Sam Adams beer production from Latrobe to a plant in the Allentown area. Brewing at the facility resumed in 2009 with Iron City Beer and several other contract brewing deals. Those include, or have included, Stoney’s and Stoney’s Light, Guinness Blonde American Lager and Red Stripe.

Pittsburgh Brewing Co. announced plans in February 2021 to produce its own brands — Iron City, IC Light, IC Light Mango, Old German Premium Lager, American and American Light, and Block House Brewing Summer Break — at a former glass plant in Creighton, East Deer. Work continues to begin production at that facility.