The Brewery Workers were given a very wide jurisdictional charter by the AFL, making it one of the first industrial unions in the US.
Three years later it changed its name yet again, this time to the International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal and Soft Drink Workers of America.
But a firestorm of protest from local unions around the country led the AFL to reinstate the charter in 1909, albeit with a number of limitations on the union's ability to organize workers outside of its newly narrowed jurisdiction.
The Brewery Workers and Teamsters continued to fight over potential members as well as raiding one another.
The series of strikes, pickets, street battles and lawsuits ended on April 2, 1947, but was so violent and protracted that it led to a congressional investigation.
But many local breweries also began closing, as large national brewers such as Anheuser-Busch expanded rapidly and either pushed them out of business or acquired them.
Milwaukee's Local 9, the largest in the union, objected to the merger and voted 2,447 to 27 to leave the Brewery Workers and affiliate directly with the AFL-CIO,[1][2] as did 26 other locals totaling about one-quarter of the union.