Whiskey Workers Strike at 2 Beam Distilleries in Kentucky

[Omaha Steve]

Source: ABC News

By BRUCE SCHREINER, AP CLERMONT, Ky.

Bill Ball has handled multiple whiskey-making tasks in his 47 years at Jim Beam, but on Saturday he took on an unexpected role — joining colleagues on a picket line outside a Beam distillery in Kentucky.

More than 200 union workers walked off their jobs at Beam distilleries at Clermont and Boston in Kentucky after voting Friday to reject the latest contract offer from the world's leading bourbon producer. As the old contract expired, Beam said its contingency plans would keep operations running to maintain the flow of whiskey to distributors and consumers.

As passing motorists honked in support Saturday, striking workers outside the Clermont distillery vented their frustrations.

They said staffing shortages often extend work weeks to 60 to 80 hours to keep up with growing demand for Beam whiskey. The company has turned increasingly to temporary workers, they said, and disregards seniority when assigning veteran employees to new roles or shifts.

FULL story at link.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/whiskey-worker-strike-jim-beam-distilleries-kentucky-42827508

[Onyrleft]

1. Buying Beam is crossing a picket line now!?!?

Well that's ok Evan is cheaper anyway.

[Omaha Steve]

3. UNION made alcohol list

All kinds of union made products here: https://www.howtobuyamerican.com/content/db/b-db-american-union-made.shtml

[wolfie001]

5. Great Reply!!!!

Chasing the "bottom dollar" has consequences.

[Sherman A1]

6. Thanks for Posting!

We can always count on you, Steve!

[longship]

2. My name is Beam... James Beam!

(A still from the absolutely best Beam... er eh, Bond film, From Russia with Love.)

Never mind!

[turbinetree]

4. The National Labor Relations Board is at stake in this election

and the Congress and Senate, this country needs pro-labor representatives.
And a U.S. Supreme Court nominee's that will fight for due process of the worker and the consumer in this country instead of how John Roberts and the present Ayn Rand Congress and Senate siding with corporations and temp agencies have been doing to the worker, and the evisceration of due process.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Whiskey Workers Go on Strike: I’ll Drink to That

October 18, 2016
Whiskey Workers Go on Strike: I’ll Drink to That

by David Macaray

More than 250 members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 111D, at two separate Jim Beam distilleries in Kentucky (one at Clermont, Kentucky, the other at Boston), have gone on strike to protest working conditions.

Jim Beam distillery employees have made it clear to management that the walk-off isn’t primarily about wages and benefits; rather, it is in response to job and shift seniority issues, hours of work, and the use of temps and part-time employees.

The Japanese parent corporation—Suntory, Inc., which owns Jim Beam, the world’s largest producer of bourbon whiskey—has made two offers to the union, both of which were resoundingly rejected by the membership. The first vote was 201-19, and the second vote was 174-46. Clearly, the company hasn’t been listening to the union’s concerns.

According to Janelle Mudd, president of Local 111D, one of the critical issues involved here—one of the main components of the strike—is the tremendous amount of overtime being forced down the workers’ throats. Because bourbon sales worldwide have soared dramatically over the last year or two, overtime has been required to meet demand. Working 60-80 hours a week is not only not uncommon, it’s become the norm.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/10/18/whiskey-workers-go-on-strike-ill-drink-to-that/