'A very partial and incomplete victory'

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4 SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 1987 ADOLPH COORS CO.: maker of Coors beer.

• In 1977 fired its striking employees and decertified their union.

• Placed potential employe es through lie-detector tests, asking them such things as "Are you homosexual?"

• Is known as the "dynasty" of the New Right.

• Bankrolls activities of figures such as Phyllis Schlatly, Jerry Falwell, and more recently, the Nicaraguan contras.

For over a decade now, numerous Black, Latino, gay, and women's organizations have been boycotting Coors beer. In 1977, when Coors broke the union, the AFL-CIO joined in the boycott.

The boycott has had a devastating effect on the sales of Coors beer. According to the AFL-CIO, Coors sales in the company's home area of Colorado have plummeted from 47 percent of the market to 22 percent since 1977. In California, sales dropped from 44 percent to 14 percent.

This poor reception in the Western states forced Coors to move east. But the boycott followed them. The gay movement has played an especially important role in the boycott's success—no Coors is served in virtually all of the gay bars around the country.

Last month, AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland claimed a resounding "victory" in the dispute with Coors. He said that the 10-year-old boycott could be called off.

Coors reportedly made two concessions in the settlement: (1) All future plant construction will be done under a negotiated labor agreement. (2) Coors will not intervene in future AFL-CIO unionelection campaigns.

Should you rush out and buy a few sixpacks right now? According to Howard Wallace, former AFL-CIO Northern California coordinator for the Coors boycott, "This is a very partial and incomplete victory."

Coors has already made it very clear to its workers that a union would not be welcome, and that workers voting in favor of a union would especially not be welcome. Besides, most workers at Coors have already been screened out for their anti-union stance.

Coors executives have pointed out that the new agreement does not prohibit them from hiring non-union labor on future construction projects. It only mandates an agreement with the unions. Coors is still scab beer.

Furthermore, Coors profits still benefit the likes of Schlafly, Falwell, and the contras. Why call off the boycott then?

"The AFL-CIO did not involve their own boycott organizers in the negotiations and did not confer with any other sectors of the coalition," says Howard Wallace.

Coors was becoming desperate. It needed a shot in the arm to boost its sagging sales. To be able to publicize that the boycott had been called off was for Coors a dream come true.

Severa months • ago, the Teamsters union had begun an organizing drive at the Golden, Colo., plant. The Teamsters are not affiliated with the AFL-CIO. With the agreement made between Coors and the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters are now iced out of the union turf battle.

The Coors Boycott Committee will continue to organize the boycott. "We If you are interested in helping the Boycott Committee or would like more information, please contact the Coors Boycott Committee at 655 14th St., San Francisco, CA 94114. Telephone (415) 861-0318.

Town meeting helps Nearly 1000 voters met in a special town meeting on Aug. 11. Amid thundering applause, three union-initiated ordinances were adopted. The measures call for:

• Abolishing the use of professional