AB InBev, Teamsters reach tentative agreement to avert US strike
(Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch Inbev and the Teamsters union said on Wednesday they have reached a 5-year tentative agreement that would avert a strike at the world's largest brewer's U.S. facilities.
Union members will receive wage increases of $8/hour, including an immediate $4/hour raise in the first year, along with a $2,500 ratification bonus for all members as part of the agreement, Teamsters said in a statement.
The tentative agreement also includes improved wages and better health care and retirement benefits, it said, adding that the ratification vote is expected next week.
The agreement covers 5,000 Teamsters members working at Anheuser-Busch breweries across the United States and averts a strike that was supposed to be held on Thursday, when the existing agreement was set to expire.
The union said in December that 99% of its members had voted to authorize a strike at Anheuser-Busch's U.S. breweries.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
