Creature Comforts employees allege union busting in NLRB suits, management disputes claims

Organizers from the Brewers' Union of Georgia (BUG) this week announced that they had filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Athens brewery Creature Comforts.

This suit is the third unfair labor practice (ULP) charge BUG has filed against Creature Comforts, with the first two going through on Jan. 27. As with the previous charges, Creature Comforts employees claim that the brewery's management is illegally interfering with unionization efforts, a claim that founders Chris Herron and Adam Beauchamp denied.

Union organizer Joseph Carter told the Athens Banner-Herald that the union wanted a fair election.

"The main thing that we want the company to do is just to back off," he said. "We just want [management] to leave workers alone so they so that they can hold their election vote how they want."

"This immediately raised a red flag"

In a Jan. 27 news release, BUG made two allegations of union-busting: one, that management deliberately misinformed employees of their rights, and two, that management unfairly retaliated against a union organizer.

The latter stems from an email exchange between an employee, who Carter declined to name, and management. The employee had been going through what Carter described as a "haphazard" evaluation process.

"The supervisors had been canceling meetings [with the employee]. They'd been really inconsistent about the evaluation process," said Carter.

But after the employee started publicly voicing support for the union, they claimed they got a stern email from management. If they didn't "improve their performance," Carter alleged, then they would be fired.

"This immediately raised a red flag," he said.

The supervisor issue

The union also alleged that management called several taproom employees in for what it described as a "seemingly mandatory captive audience meeting." During that meeting, BUG claimed, brewery management informed the employees that they would not be allowed to participate in the union vote. Management allegedly claimed it was due to the employees' roles: as supervisors, they would not qualify for a vote under NLRB rules.

Carter disagrees.

"They are what's called process managers," he said. "They don't manage people. They don't have any supervisory duties. They can't hire, fire, or discipline in any kind of independent way."

The NLRB has not yet determined whether these employees are eligible voters. The union thinks management is jumping the gun.

"We've seen a letter from the company saying that they're disputing those positions, which they are completely allowed to do," said Carter. "But what we have a problem with is them going ahead and telling those workers who are in those positions that they are not allowed to vote because they are disputing those positions."

The third charge, which the union filed on Jan. 30, claims that Creature Comforts management is asking employees to re-apply for their positions.

"We're very concerned that they're trying to change their roles to make them supervisors so that they're excluded [from the vote]," said Carter.

Creature Comforts responds

On Jan. 30, CEO Chris Herron and CFO Adam Beauchamp discussed the NLRB charges leveled against the company in a statement made to the Athens Banner-Herald.

"We are committed to continuing to communicate directly with our employees and to ensuring they feel supported and empowered to exercise their legal rights and engage in this process," they noted.

Creature Comforts has retained Littler Mendelson, a law firm which has also been hired by Starbucks and Amazon during unionization efforts. On Jan. 18, several days after the union went public, Herron said that management may consider voluntarily recognizing the union.

"Late this afternoon we received a copy of an unfair labor practice charge filed by the Brewers’ Union of Georgia," noted their statement. "The charge contains false and baseless claims and shows that the Union lacks a fundamental understanding of the National Labor Relations Act. We are confident that after reviewing the evidence, the NLRB will conclude that these claims are invalid."

It is unclear to which charge the founders are referring. The statement can be read in its entirety below.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Creature Comforts staff claims union busting, founders respond