Miller Employees Fight for Their Pensions

Katrina, 25.01.2007 12:52

OPEIU Local 35 members picketed the Miller headquarters today in protest of a company decision to freeze the pensions of many secretaries - almost entirely women over 50. Pensions of other employees have not been threatened.

OPEIU LOCAL 35 PRESS RELEASE
Employees Reject Miller Beer Contract Proposal

Members of Local 35 OPEIU voted overwhelmingly January 16 to reject a "final contract offer" from the Milwaukee corporate offices and brewery of Miller Beer. The company employs more than 120 members of Local 35 who perform numerous clerical duties.

The employees are mostly women with 20 or more years on the job. They have been fighting pension freeze and huge health care giveback demands in difficult contract negotiations with South African Brewery (SAB), the foreign-based owner of Miller. "The company's pension demand is like asking our members to throw away two or more decades of dedicated and dependable labor," said Judy Burnick, Business Manager of Local 35. "Our members' overwhelming rejection of this 'final offer' speaks for itself."

One of the company's contract demands is to replace the existing pension plan with a $2.40 per hour contribution to a savings plan. But the employees realize that accepting this offer would cause a huge loss in retirement benefits. "Our members have worked for Miller for all these years in anticipation of a secure retirement," Burnick says. "Now, the company is seeking to take that security away."
Burnick adds that the Union has tried hard to work with Miller in negotiations, even agreeing to changes in the health plan that could cost many employees thousands of dollars a year in extra medical and pharmaceutical costs.

Burnick says the Union's next step is to begin a corporate campaign against the company. "Most of the Local 35 members employed by Miller are women, and we believe that is why the company is singling us out," she says. "We know that the company has maintained its pension plans with all its other unions, all of which have mostly male members," she says, "so we are now going to let everyone know about Miller's discrimination against women." Burnick adds that over 50 members volunteered to bus down to Chicago this weekend to leaflet outside the stadium for the NFL playoff game between the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints.

"Miller is running all these 'man law' ads during the football telecasts and inviting fans to submit their own 'man laws,'" she notes. "Well, we are taking the company up on its offer at the Bears' game this weekend and submitting a man law to them: 'Thou shalt not discriminate against women!'"
For further information call Judy Burnick at 262-790-0350



SAB/Miller's final offer does not recognize the value of or contribution from our predominantly female workforce. It's all a matter of equality. Judge for yourself. Miller just completed negotiations with the UAW at the brewery in Trenton, Ohio. Miller agreed to a $14 increase in the pension multiplier taking the multiplier to $91 per year of service. There was NO mention of a freeze in the pension plan for current employees. Miller settled with the Teamsters Union in Eden, North Carolina. Again, Miller agreed to a $14 increase per year of service in the pension multiplier and the Company did NOT mention a freeze for current employees. With most of our members within ten years of retirement, SAB/Miller is shirking their obligation, penalizing our members for their years of service and discriminating against us simply because we are predominantly women. There is no other explanation for it.

Office Workers to Picket Miller Brewing, Thursday, Jan. 25th
11:30–1:00 p.m. at Corporate Headquarters
3939 West Highland Blvd.
Parent Company SAB Proposes to
FREEZE Union Women’s Pensions

In its final offer to the Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 35, SAB/Miller underscored its willingness to treat union, primarily female, office workers as second class employees by freezing their pensions. Most OPEIU Local 35 members are within 5 to 10 years of retirement. The freeze would come at a time when it will hurt these workers the most, right before retirement.

While reaching agreements this year with ALL of the predominately male union workers to maintain and substantially improve retirement benefits, SAB/Miller chose to treat its female office workers differently by:

1. Freezing the retirement benefits available to union women workers; No other union was asked to freeze retirement benefits of existing employees.
2. Continuing and improving retirement benefits to all predominately male union workers across the country;
3. Limiting and FREEZING the pension plan for the OPEIU at 60% of what it offers its male union workforce;
4. Offering the women 25% less on a replacement 401K plan.

As a worldwide employer of thousands of employees, SAB/Miller has a corporate responsibility to the members of the Office and Professional Employees Union who need their pension for a secure retirement.

With revenues in excess of $15.3 billion dollars and profits in excess of $2.9 billion dollars, SAB/Miller can well afford to meet their retirement obligations to these female workers. Please join us on Thursday, January 25, 2007 at Miller’s Corporate headquarters on 39th and Highland when we engage in informational picketing to ask SAB/Miller to make the right choice and honor retirement commitments to these workers.

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