Labor unions urge boycott of Coors beer

? Locked-out union members at a Graphic Packaging Corp. plant in Kalamazoo, Mich., called for a boycott of Coors beer, the primary product of one of Graphic Packaging’s major customers.

Coors family members are major stockholders of Graphic Packaging, based in Golden, Colo.

AFL-CIO and PACE International Union also urged members to boycott companies whose products are packaged in cartons from Graphic Packaging, including General Mills, Quaker Oats and Kraft Foods.

Graphic Packaging and union members have been at odds over proposals for overtime work and pension benefits. Union members have been locked out since July 27.

Coors’ beer operations use products from Graphic Packaging but do not receive materials from the Kalamazoo plant, Coors spokeswoman Aimee Valdez said.

PACE vice president Bill Gibbons said the goal was to get union members back to work.