Workers at Elysian Brewing Co. in South Seattle voted 20-12 to join Teamsters Local 117 on Aug. 22. The vote makes Elysian one of just a handful of unionized craft breweries in the United States. It follows a 38-8 vote in February by workers at Portland’s Widmer to join Teamsters Local 162. Like Widmer, Elysian started as an independent company but is now owned by Anheuser Busch.
Local 117 will represent 33 brewery, packaging, quality assurance, and warehouse workers at Elysian’s Georgetown production facility in Seattle. Not included are servers and kitchen staff at at Elysian’s taproom.
According to a union press statement, workers decided to unionize in order to secure equitable wages, job security, and better working conditions.
Anheuser-Busch is a Belgian multinational and the largest brewery in the world with 40% of the beer market share in the United States. The workers who produce its big beer brands are also represented by the Teamsters.
