Laid off? Labor can help

How a partnership between an employer, Teamsters Local 117, MLK Labor’s Union Hiring Hall, and the WSLC supported laid-off brewery workers

by EMMANUEL FLORES

SEATTLE, WA (January 15, 2025) — Losing a job can be like a gut punch. That’s the situation that faced workers at Elysian Brewing in Seattle at the end of the year. The union representing workers at the facility, Teamsters Local 117, knew who to call: the WSLC Workforce Development team, a vital resource and a liaison to the workforce system for all workers, union representatives, and employers facing layoffs.

Anheuser-Bush (Elysian Brewing) announced that the Georgetown location would close on December 31, 2024. The layoff impacted up to 90 workers in the King County community, with 30 of those workers represented by Teamsters 117. Jill Reese, Teamsters 117 Director of Internal Organizing, connected with the WSLC Workforce Development team about resources for workers facing layoffs and other resources workers could leverage. This is the union difference: labor-management partnerships that bring about the best results for those affected by the layoff and their community. 

Workers at Elysian Brewing in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle listen to a presentation on layoff resources. Photo: WSLC

Layoffs can be a complex process for workers and union representatives to navigate. When a layoff happens, rapid response events can be crucial for workers when transitioning after a layoff. Rapid Response events sometimes occur after the last day of work or after workers have completed their shifts. For some, it could be after 8 to 12 hours, and they may need to go home to attend to their household needs. Ideally:

1. The rapid response event would happen two weeks before layoffs occur during a closure.
2. The employer would allow workers to participate and would make space on-site for workers to attend during paid work hours.

Rapid Response events bring presenters on 

1. Accessing Unemployment Insurance, 
2. Using WorkSource resources, 
3. How to take advantage of Worker Retraining Benefits offered through the local community and technical college system, 
4. Healthcare options such as COBRA and the Washington Health Plan Finder, 
5. Information about rolling over your retirement, 
6. and additional Direct Worker Support from the WSLC Workforce Development Department. 

Possibly for the first time, through effects bargain, a labor-management partnership between Teamsters 117 and the Employer secured time and space on site for the unionized workers to have two hours paid to attend an invaluable Rapid Response session, bringing about boilerplate language. Since the information at Rapid Response is helpful to all workers impacted, the union encouraged all workers affected by the layoff to participate in the event.

Furthermore, for the first time at a Rapid Response event, the Teamsters invited Connie Solorio, MLK Labor’s Union Hiring Hall Administrator, and digital organizers Clara Youtz and Nick Peters, to present about open job positions and resources available on the virtual Union Hiring Hall at www.unionhiringhall.org. For their next in-person outreach, Union Hiring Hall staff will be tabling at the MLK Day Opportunities & Resource Fair at Garfield High School.

If you or someone you know has their workplace placed on standby (furloughed), hours reduced, could be facing a layoff or became laid off, please get in touch with the Emmanuel Flores, eflores@wslc.org or 360.561.4657, and Chelsea Mason-Placek, cmasonplacek@wslc.org or 253.973.3324.

Emmanuel Flores is a Workforce Development Director for the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, proud OPEIU member, and previously a journey-level Inside Electrician with IBEW for over a decade.