Union says Clare Rose threatens to replace striking workers

The union representing more than 100 striking delivery drivers and warehouse workers employed by East Yaphank beer distributor Clare Rose said it was notified Monday that the strikers would be “permanently replaced” on Tuesday.

The union said it received the notice in a letter sent by an outside attorney for the company.

Nearly 130 union workers represented by Teamsters Local 812 began striking Sunday night. Workers were picketing Clare Rose’s Melville facility Monday afternoon.

“The company has no legal right to permanently replace these workers,” Local 812 president Ed Weber said in a news release Monday.

Alex Moore, an outside spokesman for the union, said the workers are “going to continue striking and fighting.”

Clare Rose officials and attorneys didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment Monday afternoon. On Sunday, chief executive Sean Rose said that the company “made plans to ensure that our customers will continue to receive the high level of service to which they’ve become accustomed.” The 130 employees represent roughly half of the company’s workforce, Rose said.

Union members said the company’s proposed three-year contract eliminates a sales function drivers provide, resulting in a roughly 30 percent wage cut. They said the company also proposed converting from a pension to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Eighty-year-old Clare Rose, a third-generation family business, distributes about 10 million cases of beer annually to 5,000 bars, restaurants and convenience stores throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The company is a major distributor for Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns brands such as Budweiser, Bud Light and Blue Point.