For decades, a job at Labatt, one of Canada’s two major breweries, came with an unusual perk: free beer for life. But now, the company’s retirees have been cut off.
In a memo to employees, the brewer, which is owned by the beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, said it would gradually turn off the retirees' beer tap over the next two years. "It's been around, I think, since the breweries have been around," said David Bridger, president of the Service Employees International Union that represents workers at Labatt's brewery in London, Ontario. He predicted that the loss of the bottomless keg would further undermine morale.
"It's certainly not the way it was in the past, when there was fanatical devotion to the brand and the company," said Mr Bridger, who is also chairman of the Canadian Brewery Council, an alliance of brewery-related unions. "Today it's just a job."
The controlling shareholders of Anheuser-Busch InBev, a multinational company based in Belgium, are 3G Capital, a Brazilian private equity firm, and some of its executives. Starting with a Brazilian brewery, 3G took over breweries big and small, including Anheuser-Busch in the United States, to become the world's biggest beer-maker, owner of brands including Budweiser, Corona, Beck's and Stella Artois.
As with all of its holdings, 3G began extensive cost cutting at Labatt, which it acquired in 1995, including lower wages and reduced benefits. The end of beer for life, announced in late October, appears to be its most recent measure.
Charlie Angelakos, a spokesman for Labatt, said in an email that the company made the "reluctant decision" to cut off its retirees after looking at the retirement benefits offered by other Canadian breweries and consumer packaged goods companies. "None of the companies we surveyed offered free product to retirees," he said.
Routine free beer for retirees was ended at Molson Coors, Canada’s other large brewery, several years ago. But Gavin Thompson, a spokesman for the company, said it still provided beer to pensioners “who are hosting a special event, like a family reunion”.
How much beer?
How much free beer Labatt retirees can lug home each year depends on where they live. At the plant in London, which slakes all of Ontario’s thirst for Labatt’s Blue and Budweiser, Mr Bridger said retirees were getting about eight 24-bottle cases – what Canadians sometimes call a “two-four” – a year.
Current employees, by contrast, get a free case every other week and bonus cases at Christmas, apparently in lieu of a turkey, and for Canada Day. Their free beer will continue as long as they are employees.
Retirees in Edmonton, Alberta, get a free case every week. In most of the country, Mr Bridger said, the retirees are given gift cards which allow them to pick up their free beer at retail stores.
Why free beer became an entrenched perk of brewery work is unclear. Labatt said its labour agreements did not require it to keep retirees’ refrigerators filled. Bridger said the Labatt brewery in London once included an in-house pub where employees drank for free – after their shifts ended.
Tamar Nersesian, a Labatt spokeswoman, said the program for retirees now being wound down was introduced during the 1970s. In its letter announcing the cut-off, Labatt cited the "rising overall cost" of retiree benefits, including healthcare.
New York Times