Striking Teamsters Picket Beer Distributor

Nearly 100 members of Teamsters Union Local 683 are in the fifth week of a strike at Coast Distributing, San Diego’s Budweiser beer distributor. In dispute are wage, overtime and benefits issues.

The union, whose members include beer delivery truck drivers, warehouse employees and mechanics, also struck the Markstein Beverage distributing firm in San Marcos, but most of the 33 North County employees have already crossed picket lines and gone back to work, union officials said. All but one of the striking Coast employees have remained on strike since June 16, however.

In addition to Coast’s Santa Fe Street headquarters, the strikers are also picketing large Budweiser customers, including Price Club and Lucky supermarkets. Members are distributing anti-Budweiser handbills at bars countywide.

Strikers mounted a “Boycott Budweiser” protest at a July 4 San Diego Padres game that resulted in the ejection of 16 union members from San Diego-Jack Murphy Stadium.