Brewing Union of Georgia (BUG) has updated its unfair labor practices (ULP) filings against Creature Comforts to include employee retaliation firing, after an employee of the Athens, Georgia-based brewery was allegedly fired for his union efforts.
Spencer “Spicy” Britton – who worked for Creature Comforts for more than six years – was fired from the company on June 12, after a more than 10-week suspension, for allegedly making threats against other employees, according to a BUG Instagram post. BUG has said the claims against Britton are false, and that the firing was actually a result of Britton and others’ involvement with the union.
“Spencer’s treatment has been really motivating because he’s a super beloved coworker and friend to so many people at the brewery,” Katie Britton, Creature Comforts brand marketing manager and one of the BUG organizers, told Brewbound. “To see someone that everybody’s like, ‘This is one of our the nicest people here’ and to see what’s being done, it’s been really enraging and motivating for people.”
Since the initial Instagram post, BUG has posted several Instagram stories, claiming Creature Comforts is now limiting comments on its social media pages, deleting pro-union comments and blocking accounts. BUG posted a screenshot of an alleged direct message (DM) from Creature Comforts’ account to another user, which copied the brewery’s social media guidelines.
“Hey [redacted], we saw your comment. However, we believe that a conversation has always been, and will always be, better than a comment thread,” Creature Comforts wrote in the DM. “Please do email us if you’d like to speak with a senior leader who’d be happy to answer any questions – over the phone or IRL [in real life].”
“Moving forward, we’d love to hear what you have to say about the content we’re posting,” it continued. “If, however, you continue to leverage this forum for your own purposes, we’ll unfortunately need to delete the comment and potentially block the account. … In the end, disagreements are inevitable. But disagreements need not divide us. We sincerely hope to sit down with you soon.”
Katie Britton, who is also married to Spencer, said similar communication tactics are being used with BUG members, with Creature Comforts leadership allegedly saying they are open to having conversations with people, but then not sharing any information during those conversations.
“I asked about updates on the suspension for Spencer multiple times throughout the timeframe of that and was multiple times told ‘No, I can’t tell you anything,’” Britton said. “It’s kind of that same feel of them putting out on social ‘We want to have conversations’ and then blocking people.”
Brewbound’s attempt to reach Creature Comforts CEO Chris Herron returned an out-of-office reply. Public relations contacts for the company did not respond to outreach.
Creature Comforts employees first announced union efforts in early January, forming BUG as an independent union to bring “positive workplace culture and core values” to Creature Comforts and other Georgia breweries. The majority of the brewery’s employees signed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to formalize the union and schedule an election.
Less than two weeks later, BUG filed two complaints against Creature Comforts with the NLRB, alleging ULP and failure to recognize the union. Brewery leadership denied the allegations.
“The charge contains false and baseless claims and shows that the Union lacks a fundamental understanding of the National Labor Relations Act,” Herron and Creature Comforts chief product officer Adam Beauchamp told Brewbound in a January statement. “We are confident that after reviewing the evidence, the NLRB will conclude that these claims are invalid. 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.”
In early February, a two-day pre-election hearing with the NLRB was held, with witnesses advocating for the union to be recognized. BUG is still waiting on the results of that hearing, as the NLRB has been “completely swamped” and the increase in labor movements across the country has “put them under water,” Britton said.
“We’re really frustrated with the company and angry with them for what they’ve been doing,” Britton said. “They took us to a hearing back in February because they knew it would delay us having an election, and the fact that they’ve continued to amp up their union busting within that time period of just waiting has been extremely frustrating.
“We keep saying every time something else happens that we’re baffled by, we’re like, ‘This is why we’re doing this, this is why we need this,’” they continued. “Because once we have this established, we can protect against these things happening.”
In April, BUG filed two additional ULP complaints against Creature Comforts, after Spencer Britton and another known union leader were suspended. The two employees were allegedly told not to speak to any other coworkers, with an investigation underway, and were escorted from the premises by police officers.
The continuation of alleged union busting hasn’t deterred employees from pushing for the union, but has rather “solidified how much we need this,” Katie Britton said.
“Everybody’s really fired up and angry about the firing of Spencer, and we’re just ready to have our election and be able to move forward,” Britton said.
“When we started this process, we were like, ‘We all believe in this in this company, and what it can do,’ and that’s why we’re here fighting for union and not just leaving,” they continued. “It’s important to kind of put out there that this is the type of thing that’s important, no matter what. Whether you love your job or you hate your job, having protections is a really important right and it’s a worthy fight to fight for that right.”