Do you like beer? Unions? A good fight? Me too. Which is why I was excited to learn about the struggle at the Moosehead brewery. The New Brunswick Union has put together a documentary called Drink Em Dry that tells more. The tale of family owned brewery vs workers – a reminder that ‘family owned’ doesn’t automatically confer virtue, no matter how feckless the corporate competition – is important to share. I was particularly taken by one of the tactics following the lock-out. Rather than calling for a boycott, the union apparently encouraged people to drink more Moosehead, to force bosses to the table. Trailer below.
Full disclosure- the NBU very kindly asked me to narrate the documentary. But don’t worry. My posh stammer is called upon only rarely – the majority of the voices in the film are those of the workers themselves.
Website of author, film-maker and academic, Raj Patel