bottlesnotcans.ca

You may or may not have heard about a very lengthy job action happening in Toronto.  At time of writing, the workers at Crown Holdings in Toronto have been on strike for 17 months.  They are the people who make beer cans for Molson, Labatts, Coors, Budweiser, Moosehead, Steam Whistle, Creemore and many more.  They also produce the cans for Cotts soda.  Buying cans made by Crown while a job action like this is happening means you are buying cans made by scab workers.  If you would rather not do that, please consider buying your beer in bottles until they settle their strike.  These workers are trying to protect the workers of the future, workers who the employer would like to pay half as much as the current workers.  All this while paying their CEO over $6000 an hour.  I am including a pamphlet, some youtube videos and some facts about the strike for you to consider.  You can also visit their website at bottlesnotcans.ca.  I know they appreciate the support as they stand up for workers' rights.

THE FACTS
• 120 Toronto workers, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9176 were forced on strike by Crown Holdings, Inc. on September 6, 2013
• Crown's Toronto facility has been unionized for over 25 years and many of the workers have worked for Crown for over two decades
• The company consolidated labour relations at its US headquarters and has little knowledge of the unique nature and issues of the Toronto facility
• Crown is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of food and beverage cans
• It claims to make one out of every five beverage cans in the world, and one out of every three food cans in North America
• Crown operates approximately 140 plants in 40 countries; about 12,000 of its 21,300 employees worldwide are covered by a collective agreement
• Crown nearly doubled its profits in 2012, to $557 million from $282 million in 2011
• Crown’s CEO was paid an average of $13 million/year in the past five years
• The Toronto facility is one of Crown’s top producers in North America and received the 2012 “Plant of the Year Award” for outstanding “safety, productivity and budget management”
• The facility produces over 5 million beverage and food cans per day for customers such as Molson, Coors, Labatt, Budweiser, Moosehead, Creemore, Morgan’s and Cotts