Samantha Pierotti / Eugene Register-Guard / May 10, 2025
Link to this article on the Register Guard Website [here]
Key Points
– Teamsters ended a seven-month strike but said Bigfoot Beverages refused to let them return.
– The company said it won’t displace permanent replacements hired during the strike.
After more than seven months on strike, workers at Bigfoot Beverages in Eugene thought the fight was over.
Teamsters Local 324 filed an unconditional return-to-work notice on April 23, hoping to get back on the job after months of picketing over pension concerns. The picket line came down. The signs were packed up.
But by May 7, the strike signs were back out — and the frustration had only grown.
From Teamsters strike to lockout at Eugene’s Bigfoot Beverages
The union said workers aren’t being allowed back into their old positions. Bigfoot Beverages, a regional distributor, said it won’t displace the permanent replacements hired during the strike.
Union leaders said what’s happening now isn’t a strike anymore. It’s a lockout.
“It’s kind of business as usual for us,” Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 324 Chris Muhs said about being back on the picket. “But now we’re picketing because we’re locked out, it’s no longer a strike.”
Why union tried to return to Bigfoot Beverages
The decision to end the unfair labor strike was made collaboratively by the local Teamsters Union and Teamsters International. Local leaders said that, between a lack of support from their elected officials, a lack of community engagement in the boycott and a lack of insurance coverage for striking Teamsters, it was time to go back to work.
“It wasn’t that money was running out or anything like that,” Muhs said. “In fact, now that we’re in the lockout, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is still paying the weekly benefit.”
Muhs said he doesn’t know how many of the Teamsters have been able to return to their former positions. To his knowledge, the Teamsters have only had nine or 10 offers from Bigfoot to return to work. Still, Muhs said the Teamsters at the picket line are still in good spirits.
“Morale is outstanding,” Muhs said. “The company’s actions have done nothing but reinvoke the same frustration and anger as before.”
Bigfoot Beverages responds
In a statement, Bigfoot Beverages said it stands by its April 24 press release and confirmed that it offered former employees a spot on a preferential hire list. Workers on the list will be called when jobs in their classifications become available, the company said.
According to Bigfoot, 113 former employees expressed interest in returning.
Beyond that, the company declined to provide additional details.
Legal battle underway
Teamsters Local 324 said it’s now pursuing legal action.
The Teamsters have not had any communication with Bigfoot outside of responses to their unconditional return letter. Local 324 plans to continue picketing and calling for a boycott of Bigfoot Beverages’ products, just as they did before submitting the return-to-work notice. The union is also pursuing legal action.
“We have 10 open active unfair labor charges with the National Labor Relations Board, and I believe we are filing as many as three additional charges, some in relation to the lockout,” Muhs said.
Until something changes, union members said they’ll stay outside Bigfoot’s McVay Highway headquarters, picketing just like before.
Samantha Pierotti is the food, drinks and “things to do” reporter for The Register-Guard. You can reach her via email at spierotti@gannett.com with tips on restaurants and local happenings.
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