Supporters of USW 9176 fighting for fairness at Crown Holdings asked beer drinkers to buy bottles, not cans during a Day of Action across Ontario on Saturday, December 13.
Steelworkers and family members handed out leaflets at almost 60 Beer Store and LCBO locations across Ontario.
The Day of Action was organized to support working families under attack this holiday season by the world's largest beer can maker, Crown Holdings.
USW members at Crown's Toronto factory have been on strike since September 2013, when the highly profitable American corporation demanded massive concessions from its employees.
After provoking the dispute, Crown hired scabs to operate the Toronto factory. The strikebreakers are producing cans sold to multinational brewers including Anheuser-Busch InBev (Labatt) and Molson Coors who, together with Sapporo, control Ontario's Beer Stores.
Steelworkers and their supporters from Quebec to British Columbia also are encouraging the public to buy bottled beer instead of scab cans. Crown recently announced the closing of its only remaining plant in Quebec.
Media Coverage of the Bottles, Not Cans Day of Action
- 16 December 2014 Rankandfile.ca Kicking the Can Across Ontario
- 15 December 2014 RadioLabour Ontario Beer Drinkers Urged to Buy Bottles Not Cans (audio)
- 14 December 2014 Brantford Expositor Union Urges Boycott of Buying Beer in Cans
- 13 December CTV News Ottawa Bottles, Not Cans Day of Action (at 3:28 of the newscast)
- 12 December 2014 Radio Canada International Union Asks Beer Drinkers to Share Holiday Spirit, and Drink From Bottles not Cans
- 12 December 2014 Stratford Beacon Herald Steelworkers ask Stratford Beer Drinkers to Share Holiday Spirit
- 12 December 2014 Hamilton Spectator For the Record: Beer Can Makers Ask for Your Support
www.bottlesnotcans.ca