2007-02-03

A Lot Of Uncertainty

Union can't answer workers' plea: 'What's going to happen to us?'
By Naomi Powell
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 3, 2007)
Union officials have few answers for anxious Lakeport workers after Labatt announced plans to buy the Hamilton brewery.

Labatt has yet to contact Teamsters Local 938, representing 140 of the 200 workers at Lakeport.

"(It's) disappointing because I have a very upset, anxious group of employees down there saying, 'What's going to happen to us?'" said Craig McInnes, vice-president of the local.

"And I can't answer them."

Labatt has not made any plans for the Hamilton brewery because it hasn't had a chance to assess it, said company spokesperson Neil Sweeney.

The deal still must be accepted by two-thirds of Lakeport's unitholders and has to be cleared by the competition bureau.

"We can't contact (the union) because we don't even own the company yet," Sweeney added.

The deal comes amid a wave of consolidation in the beer industry. Guelph's Sleeman Breweries was bought by Japan's Sapporo Breweries last fall, while Molson joined Adolph Coors Co. last year to form Molson Coors.

"This transaction is in early, early stages," Lakeport chief executive Teresa Cascioli said yesterday. "It was just announced the other day so, no, I have no more information."

It is too early to say whether she will remain on Lakeport's board, Cascioli has said.

Gary Sutton has been with Lakeport since 1998, long enough to witness the company's remarkable turnaround from a near bankrupt brewery to the third largest brewer in Ontario. Lakeport led an explosion in the discount beer segment, using its "buck a beer" strategy to eat into a market previously dominated by mainstream brewers like Labatt.

"I thought, 'Wow, I'm part of this,'" said Sutton, a lift truck driver. "It made you feel good."

Competition between the two breweries hit a boiling point last summer when Labatt launched a guerrilla marketing campaign in Lakeport's back yard. About a dozen young women dressed in the black and gold of Labatt's Genuine Honey beer circled Hamilton motorists in a bid to promote the brand.

"A lot of us thought, 'Wow, we're doing better than we thought, we're really getting to these guys,'" Sutton said.

Now, with little information about what the Labatt deal will mean for him, Sutton is trying to stay optimistic.

"(Labatt owner) InBev, they're a huge company," he said. "They could just knock the building down, but it could all work out great. We could be humming and hawing for nothing."

npowell@thespec.com

905-526-4620

With files from Daniel Nolan, The Hamilton Spectator

Used with permission from The Hamilton Spectator, www.thespec.com Copyright The Hamilton Spectator. All rights reserved.