A total of 160 drivers across Florida employed by wholesaler Breakthru Beverages have voted “overwhelmingly” to unionize with the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters, according to the union, which also represents thousands of workers for UPS, Disney World, rental car agencies and other logistics companies across the state.
Jose Miranda, a Breakthru driver in Orlando who supported the unionization effort, shared in a statement, “I know firsthand the difference between a union and nonunion job.” Before working for Breakthru, Miranda said he had a job similarly covered by the Teamsters.
“The Teamsters have always been like a second family to me,” said Miranda. “When times got tough, it became clear that organizing was the only way forward.”
According to the union, drivers in six Florida cities — Orlando, Tampa, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Fort Myers — began organizing with the Teamsters in a bid to secure higher pay, better job benefits and improvements to other working conditions. Drivers in July demanded the company voluntarily recognize their union (an ask that must be accompanied by evidence that a majority of workers support unionization), but the company instead asked the federal National Labor Relations Board for a union election.
“This is demanding work, and workers throughout the liquor distribution industry understand the critical importance of having a strong Teamsters contract," said Jeff Padellaro, director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference in a statement. “I congratulate these workers, the organizers and the Florida locals who made this victory possible. We are ready to negotiate the industry-leading contract these workers deserve.”
Breakthru Beverages, a family-owned company based in New York, is one of the largest beer, wine and spirits distributors in North America, delivering products to restaurants, bars and retailers. The company describes itself as the Sunshine State’s largest distributor of beer, wine and nonalcoholic beverages, and has reported annual sales that top $8 billion.
The Teamsters represent hundreds of other Breakthru employees outside Florida, according to the union, including drivers in Illinois. A report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor and Management Standards last week, however, shows the company wasn’t ready to welcome the Teamsters without a fight.
The company, formerly known as Premier Beverage Company, in August hired the Nevada-based union avoidance firm Action Resources to obstruct the organizing drive here in Florida. According to a report filed by the firm, the company agreed to pay the firm a daily rate of $3,750 per consultant, “plus reasonable travel expenses,” to “communicate with employees regarding their rights to unionize and refrain from unionizing.”
The firm enlisted six anti-union labor consultants for the job, including former Teamster Angel Cornejo (who later joined the lucrative union avoidance industry), Orlando-based consultant Chris Catam and Fernando Rivera, a consultant recently hired to obstruct a separate organizing campaign among Orlando-based drivers employed by trucking company MGM Logistics. As Orlando Weekly previously reported, those drivers similarly voted to join the Teamsters earlier this month.
“The company hires these people to basically lie to them,” Jose Faneitty, an organizer for the Teamsters Local 385 in Orlando, previously told Orlando Weekly. Cornejo, who describes himself on LinkedIn as a “former union leader and organizer,” was accused in 2020 of unlawfully telling employees during a union drive in Southern California that unionizing would reduce workers' pay and benefits. Under the National Labor Relations Act, it is illegal for an employer (or a company representative) to threaten employees with adverse consequences for engaging in or supporting in union activity.
Action Resources, founded in 1989, was also recently contracted by Breakthru to counter an organizing drive in Commerce, California, where 62 drivers sought to join the Teamsters. The results of that union election, a vote of 21–33 against unionization, have been contested. The company similarly hired the firm to obstruct an organizing campaign among Breakthru drivers in California last year. They paid Action Resources $421,160 total for that job, records show.
Breakthru Beverages did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the union election results in Florida, a state where just 6.1 percent of the total workforce has union representation.
Despite its reputation as a state hostile to labor unions, Florida has seen several organizing drives involving the Teamsters in recent months, including among drivers for Sysco, MBM Logistics, United Natural Foods Inc., Parsec, Dunkin Donuts (which also hired a union avoidance firm, targeting workers in Tampa) and Breakthru.
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