UNITE HERE! Local 17 Secretary-Treasurer Sheigh Freeberg joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed his efforts to unionize craft breweries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Freeberg appeared on AWF in celebration of National American Craft Beer Week.
UNITE HERE! Local 17 represents more than 6,000 workers in hotels, restaurants, sports complexes, convention centers and the airport in Minneapolis, Saint Paul and the surrounding suburbs.
While many large breweries employ union labor and offer their workers health insurance and benefits, most small craft breweries do not. Unfortunately, this has led to considerable worker exploitation among some craft breweries, he said.
He told the story of the first Minnesota craft brewery he organized, Fair State Brewing Cooperative, and is now working to organize more craft breweries in Minnesota.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.