NYC, Wyandanch beer delivery workers reach tentative deal to end strike, company says

A regional beer distributor, with a facility in Wyandanch, has reached a tentative deal with unionized delivery workers to end a strike over alleged unfair labor practices and a pension dispute, the company and the union confirmed Thursday.

About 600 delivery and warehouse workers in Wyandanch and across New York City went on a strike Tuesday after contract negotiations between Bronx-based beer distribution company, Manhattan Beer & Beverage Distributors, and Distribution and Food Service Joint Board Workers United, the union representing delivery workers, fell apart, Newsday previously reported. The strike slowed beverage delivery to restaurants, bodegas and supermarkets as drivers, including more than 100 in Wyandanch, were picketed across at Wyandanch and Manhattan Beer's other locations in the city.

The union confirmed that negotiations were completed at around 3:15 a.m. Thursday morning and that workers kept their pensions, a key sticking point that led to the strike. "When people stand together, we can accomplish things no one expects," a spokesperson told Newsday.

The company also confirmed the agreement.

"We’re pleased to announce we’ve reached an agreement and the strike is over," Manhattan Beer Distributors said in a statement.

Neither the company nor the union elaborated on specifics of the agreement. 

Union representatives told Newsday on Tuesday that the union authorized the strike was due to the Manhattan Beer Distributors' attempts after the beer distributor sought to move the employees from a pension plan to a 401(k) plan.

Alberto Arroyo, co-manager of the delivery workers' union, said then workers were negotiating to increase the company's contribution to pensions by $1.50 an hour and alleged that Manhattan Beer had been dealing with workers directly to negotiate their pensions, without members of the bargaining committee present.

“The company, from the get-go, started direct dealing with members, giving them information without the union and without the bargaining committee, trying to convince them and confuse them to give up their pensions for a 401(k),” Arroyo said Tuesday. “They just kept attacking the pensions. That’s our security. We’re not willing to let that go."

Manhattan Beer Distributors has over 350 trucks and facilities in Wyandanch, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and the Hudson Valley, according to its website. They distribute over 300 brands including Corona, Coors and Blue Moon, as well as wine, liquor and soft drinks.