Anheuser-Busch turns the other cheek as custodians are outsourced

November 4, 2009

NEWARK, NJ — Custodians at Anheuser-Busch''s Newark brewery are now out of jobs after the company decided to cut costs by outsourcing cleaning, according to a press release.

The new companies, U.S. Metro Group Inc. and Dawn Brite Inc., have refused to accept job applications from the laid-off custodians, the release stated.

According to the release, the new companies plan to keep costs down by paying close to minimum wage and providing few, if any, benefits for the new cleaners.

Under a contract with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ, the brewery cleaners were earning $13.30 an hour and receiving employer-paid family health care, the release noted.

Luci Peralta, a cleaner who had worked at the brewery for six years, said: "Doesn''t Anheuser-Busch get that we need to feed our families? With no income, I don''t know how I''ll put food on the table and make our house payments."

SEIU Local 32BJ has contacted Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. about the job losses, but the company has refused to intervene on their former workers'' behalf, the release added.

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