Not so High Life

Not so long ago, if you felt like your employer wasn't doing you right, you could write a letter to the president and try to get a reporter to listen to (and publish) your story, but that was about it. Good chance you wouldn't get heard.

In 2007, you make a little video and put it on YouTube. Here's the background, courtesy of the Wisconsin Radio Network (a Learfield network):

"A David and Goliath battle pits a union local against the parent of Miller Brewing. Judy Burnick is business manager of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 35 in Milwaukee. In Madison Tuesday, she said workers are concerned that they'll no longer be eligible for pension benefits under terms of a new contract offer by South African Breweries, Miller's parent company. The union has filed complaints, with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Equal Rights Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Burnick said the union members know that the only way they are going to get a fair shake in retirement is through their pension plan. The workers have gone so far as to post a video on YouTube, aimed at Norman Adami, the president and CEO of South African Breweries North American operations."

When I watched the (semi-goofy) video, only 5,000 others had done so. But I'll bet you a cold Miller High Life that one of them was Norman Adami.