Jim Beam Union Workers In Kentucky Vote In Favor Of Strike

Source: ABC News

By BRUCE SCHREINER, LOUISVILLE, Ky.

Whiskey workers at two Jim Beam distilleries in Kentucky have threatened to walk off their jobs as efforts to ratify a new contract soured ahead of a looming deadline at the world's largest bourbon producer.

Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 111D voted 201-19 on Tuesday evening in favor of going on strike at Beam distilleries in Clermont and Boston, Tommy Ballard, a UFCW international representative, said Wednesday.

The current contract runs through Friday, and Beam Suntory officials said production continued as usual Wednesday. The classic American whiskey brand is owned by Suntory Holdings Ltd., a Japanese beverage company.

Bargaining stretched for weeks to develop the contract offer that workers rejected. That outcome came as a surprise to the company, and Beam Suntory said it was trying to understand the reasons the proposal was turned down. Company executive Kevin Smith said the offer included wage increases along with other enhancements, including elimination of a two-tiered wage system for almost all employees.

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