BEER-O-NOMICS: HOW BEER ALONE CAN MAKE OUR ISLAND BETTER.
Most of us don’t think too much about beer other than if it is cold or our brand, but beer is a great example of all that is wrong with Guam’s economy. I, myself, drink Miller Lite for one simple reason, it says “Union Made” on every label so I know the workers that made it were treated fairly with dignity and respect. So let us consider the journey of a Miller Lite in Ch.1 of a book I am compiling together entitled Beer-o-nomics. Take a look at the Manufacturing viewpoint.

MANUFACTURING
While Miller Lite says “Union Made” on its label, most other major bottling plants are organized as well. Therefore, the workers at the bottling plant in Milwaukee Wisconsin are making at least $20 per hour, have decent health insurance and a good defined benefit retirement plan. Not a fortune by any stretch of the imagination but a decent middle class wage that allows them to buy a house and raise a family. It also allows them to go shopping and pay taxes in their community which mean decent public schools, adequate public services and a thriving economy for local businesses. Think about it, that’s hundreds of workers making over $40,000 a year which is worth millions of dollars a year to their home town.

Read the next section on Trucking and Stateside Ports next week!