Teamsters challenge layoffs after organizing victory.

In a stunning reversal of fortune, <a href="http://www.pyramidbrew.com/" rel="nofollow">Pyramid Brewery</a> in Berkeley, Calif., closed its facility and laid off all the employees ... who had voted to join <a href="http://www.teamsterslocal896.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Local 896</a> just two months ago.<br /><br />Brother Doug Bloch, <a href="http://www.teamstersjc7.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Joint Council 7</a> political director, shared the bad news with us.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">...the company has indefinitely shuttered the facility and laid off the employees, presumably because the plant needs cleaning.  If this all sounds fishy to you, it does to us, too.  Local 896 is communicating with the company to get more information and we will keep you posted. </blockquote>On August 7, the workers at Pyramid Brewery had voted overwhelmingly to be represented by the Teamsters. Brian Indelicato, business agent, said at the time:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The parent company, North American Breweries, ran a hard dishonest campaign. However, the workers were all engaged and saw through the lies.</blockquote>The members were eager to get to the table to negotiate ways to improve their jobs. Their concerns included unsafe working conditions, unfair and inconsistent treatment, no pension, substandard benefits, wages well below the industry standard, no established work schedule or work week and a working relationship completely lacking in dignity and respect.<br /><br />Watch this KTVU-TV news report to hear the workers' side of the story:<br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="392" id="flashObj" width="615"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=2720517730001&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ktvu.com%2Fvideos%2Fnews%2Fberkeley-brewery-employees-go-public-with-labor%2FvCD69s%2F&playerID=836564367001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAVzySoEk~,39KWv4t6IXBhr9fjdqt8jJhoVTxYZojR&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=2720517730001&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ktvu.com%2Fvideos%2Fnews%2Fberkeley-brewery-employees-go-public-with-labor%2FvCD69s%2F&playerID=836564367001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAVzySoEk~,39KWv4t6IXBhr9fjdqt8jJhoVTxYZojR&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="420" height="290" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />

retaliation union-busting Teamsters challenge layoffs after organizing victory.

In a stunning reversal of fortune, Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley, Calif., closed its facility and laid off all the employees ... who had vote...

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