City Brewery, union locals OK new 4-year contract, end brief Latrobe strike

Union locals over the weekend ratified a new labor agreement with City Brewery in Latrobe, ending a brief strike.

The four-year contract with CBC Latrobe Acquisition was approved by 78% of the members of IUE-CWA Locals 22 and 144 during the Saturday vote, according to the respective local presidents, Bill Palmer and Bob Charettie.

Union members had agreed to return to work beginning at 6 a.m. the previous day after the two sides came to a tentative agreement Thursday, Palmer said.

Palmer declined to reveal further details about the deal, which covers about 195 workers at the Latrobe brewery. It ended a strike that began March 15, when workers said they were walking out over unfair labor practices.

Although the strike has been resolved, Palmer said the unions are continuing to pursue multiple unfair labor practice charges they previously filed against the company with the National Labor Relations Board.

The union’s allegations include changing contracts, refusing to hand over information, changing the terms and conditions of employment and making coercive statements.

“We expect to hear a ruling on those in the near future,” the local presidents said in a joint statement.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with IUE-CWA union on a contract that provides strong pay and benefits for our employees,” a City Brewery spokesperson said Monday. “We appreciate the work that the union negotiating committee put in throughout this process and the continued hard work and dedication of our team.

“We are excited to move forward together.”

Before striking, union members staged an informational picket March 4, the day after an extension of their previous contract with City Brewery expired.

At that point, Palmer accused management of attempting to take away seniority rights that allowed employees to pick their shifts.

Responding then, a brewery spokesperson said the company would continue to honor seniority and job bidding under a company contract offer it said included “significant wage increases.”

Union members rejected that previous offer.

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

City Brewery 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.

Latrobe brewing 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.