2021 Heaven Hill strike

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2021 Heaven Hill strike
Part of Striketober
DateSeptember 11 – October 23, 2021
(1 month, 1 week and 5 days)
Location
Bardstown, Kentucky, United States
Caused byDisagreements over terms of a new labor contract
Goals
  • Guarantees against nontraditional scheduling
  • Higher wages
Methods
Resulted inNew five-year contract that includes:
  • $3.09 hourly pay increase
  • Increased employer contributions to healthcare
  • Additional vacation days and overtime guarantees
  • Guarantees against mandatory weekend work
Parties

The 2021 Heaven Hill strike was a

distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, United States. These workers are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers
Local 23D and were on strike since September 11. The labor dispute is over the terms of a new five-year labor contract between the union and the company, which is one of the largest bourbon producers in the world. In particular, union members were concerned about "gray areas" in the contract that they believed could lead to union employees working weekends and extra overtime without pay. Additional concerns from the union were over reduced take-home pay and a removal of the limit on premiums for health care insurance. On September 9, union members voted by about 96 percent to reject the proposed contract and authorized strike action. As a result, the union's existing contract expired without replacement on September 10 and striking commenced the following day.

The strike continued for several weeks, during which time union and company negotiators met on and off. On October 22, over a month into the strike, negotiators announced that a tentative agreement had been reached and that a new contract would be put to a vote the following day. Union members voted to accept the contract, which included guarantees against mandatory weekend work, as well as a $3.09 hourly pay raise over the course of the 5-year contract, increased contributions from the employer to the workers' healthcare plans, and additional vacation days and overtime guarantees.

Background

A color photograph of a bottle of bourbon to the left of a glass containing some of that bourbon
Evan Williams, one of the bourbon brands produced by Heaven Hill

premiums.[1] In addition, the company indicated that new hires would be assigned to nontraditional schedules that would include working on weekends, though the company was vague about how this would affect existing workers at the distillery.[1] Some workers interpreted the company's statements and certain "gray areas" in the contract to mean that they would be required to work on weekends without extra pay.[4][5] These contract negotiations were occurring during a time when the bourbon industry was experiencing substantial growth,[5] with sales in the United States for bourbon, rye whiskey, and Tennessee whiskey rising by about 8.2 percent in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][6] During this time, some workers reported working extra overtime, in some cases up to seven days per week.[7] Additionally, labor disputes had recently occurred at other bourbon producers in the area, including at Four Roses and in the 2016 Jim Beam strike.[1] During previous labor contract negotiations in September 2016, Local 23D had held a vote to authorize strike action, but instead the contract proposal was accepted and a strike was averted.[8] On September 9,[9] the union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract proposal offered by the company, with about 96 percent of the members voting against it.[10] In addition, the union members voted to authorize strike action against the company.[11] As a result, the existing contract expired at 11:59 p.m. on September 10 without a replacement, and union members went on strike early the following day.[10]

Course of the strike

Following the

mayor of Louisville, who attended some picket lines in support of the strike.[14] The strike occurred several days before the 2021 Kentucky Bourbon Festival, leading the Lexington Herald-Leader to report that Heaven Hill would not be participating in the event.[15] The COO of the event later stated that Heaven Hill had been scheduled to participate, but withdrew.[12] A day after the strike began, the company sent a letter to Local 23D stating that the strikers health care coverage had been terminated and that the coverage would resume after a new contract was ratified and the strike ended.[5][6][16] During the strike, the company stated that they experienced minimal disruptions to their operations due to a contingency plan.[17]

On September 15, in a show of solidarity with the strikers, the local

union steward, was not a good sign and showed that the company was not fully willing to restart discussions.[20] Around this same time, there were reports that the company was hiring replacement workers, though the company refused to comment on this.[20] While the union and company did meet for negotiations on September 27, the union stated that the company did not agree to return on September 29 despite a request by the federal mediator.[21][22][23]

Around early October, the company sent a letter to some strikers explaining some of the gray areas in the contract and stated that existing workers would not have to take on a nontraditional schedule,[2] though several strikers expressed doubt over the company's statements.[24] On October 4, local CBS-affiliate WLKY reported that about 20 union members had already left Heaven Hill and found employment at other companies, with the article stating that that number could rise the longer the strike lasted.[25] On October 5, union and company negotiators met again for another round of discussions, but as with the previous meetings, no agreement was reached.[26] On October 13, a delivery driver near the facility flipped his truck in an automobile accident after making a "threatening gesture" to picketers near the entrance.[27] On October 18, having declared that the negotiations were at an impasse, Heaven Hill announced their intention to hire permanent replacement workers.[17][28] The company stated that they had been negotiating "in good faith" with the union, though this was disputed by the local's president, who stated that they had filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board.[17][29] In a statement issued by the union on the same day, they stated that they were still in favor of participating in good faith negotiations and challenged the claim that the negotiations were at an impasse.[30] According to a union negotiator, they had submitted several proposals to the company during discussions that the company refused to consider.[31] At the time of the announcement, wording regarding the nontraditional scheduling was still the biggest point of contention.[31]

On October 21, the two sides resumed negotiations,[32] and the next day, the union and company negotiators reached a tentative agreement for a new labor contract,[33] which was submitted to the rank and file members for a vote on October 23.[34] This deal was ratified that same day, with only 195 votes against the contract.[33] Under the terms of the contract, workers received additional overtime protections and vacation days, as well as guarantees that maintained the 40-hour Monday-through-Friday schedule and ensured that the workers would not have to work mandatory weekends.[33] Additionally, the union members would receive an hourly pay raise of $3.09 for the duration of the contract,[33] as well as a 4.25 percent increase for employer contributions to their healthcare plan.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^
    AP News. Associated Press. Archived
    from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Miller, Rhonda (October 4, 2021). "Strike by Union Workers at Heaven Hill Distillery Entering Fourth Week". WKU Public Radio. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  3. ^ Harkins, Monica (September 24, 2021). "Heaven Hill says negotiations will continue Monday as workers approach second week of strike". WDRB. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  4. ^ Goodwillie, Kristin (September 13, 2021). "'This is on them": Distillery workers strike in Bardstown, here are their demands". WHAS-TV. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Stevens, Ashlie D. (September 17, 2021). "Negotiations on the rocks: Bourbon giant Heaven Hill faces strike as workers demand "respect"". Salon.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Press, Alex N. (October 14, 2021). "Workers at One of the Country's Biggest Bourbon Producers Have Been on Strike for a Month". Jacobin. Archived from the original on October 14, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  7. ^ Mabra, Gabrielle (September 29, 2021). "Employees on strike at Heaven Hill in Bardstown reach a stalemate in negotiations". WLKY. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  8. ^ Patrick, Randy (September 10, 2016) [September 9, 2016]. "Heaven Hill workers vote on strike". The Kentucky Standard. Landmark Media Enterprises. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Employees on strike at Heaven Hill in Bardstown demanding better working conditions". WLKY. September 13, 2021. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021 – via MSN.
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Stephan (September 13, 2021). "Heaven Hill workers continue to strike over wages, weekend work". WDRB. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Heaven Hill employees go on strike". WAVE. September 13, 2021. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c McKenna, Grace (September 16, 2021). "'Without us and them, who are they?': Local bar refuses to sell Heaven Hill products while workers strike". WHAS-TV. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  13. ^ Johnson, Stephan (September 16, 2021). "Heaven Hill employees giving up pay, benefits to strike". WDRB. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Hazboun, Samir (October 4, 2021). "Heaven Hill strikers stand up to Kentucky distillery bosses". The Militant. 85 (36). Archived from the original on September 27, 2021.
  15. ^ Patton, Janet (September 13, 2021). "Workers who make one of Kentucky's biggest bourbons just went on strike. Here's why". Lexington Herald-Leader. McClatchy. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021 – via MSN.
  16. ^ a b Husk, Amy (October 18, 2021). "Back Heaven Hill distillery workers strike in Kentucky!". The Militant. 85 (38). Archived from the original on October 11, 2021.
  17. ^
    AP News. Associated Press. Archived
    from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  18. ^ Lally, Tom (September 18, 2021). "Heaven Hill workers continue picket line as tourist flock to bourbon festival in Bardstown". WHAS-TV. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  19. ^ a b c Farrell, Conner (September 24, 2021). "Heaven Hill, striking union members set to renegotiate contract". WHAS-TV. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  20. ^ a b Harkins, Monica (September 27, 2021). "Heaven Hill strike continues for its third week as negotiators meet". WDRB. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  21. ^ "Strike enters third week, Bardstown workers call for strong contract that protects Kentucky jobs". WNKY. September 28, 2021. Archived from the original on October 14, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  22. ^ Vogt, Dustin (September 28, 2021). "Heaven Hill strike enters third week as union claims negotiations stalled". WAVE. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  23. ^ "Union: Heaven Hill refusing to negotiate, employees will continue to strike". WHAS-TV. September 29, 2021. Archived from the original on October 12, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  24. ^ Lally, Tom (October 4, 2021) [October 3, 2021]. "'It hits you hard' | Members enter week 4 without income or insurance from Heaven Hill during strike". WHAS-TV. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  25. ^ Lord, Shaquille (October 4, 2021). "Heaven Hill workers enter 4th week of strike: 'I'm going to stand out here for what I deserve'". WLKY. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  26. ^ Johnson, Stephan (October 5, 2021). "After nearly 4 weeks on strike, Heaven Hill employees face new challenges". WDRB. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  27. The Courier-Journal. Gannett. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021 – via MSN
    .
  28. ^ Daniels, CJ (October 19, 2021) [October 18, 2021]. "Heaven Hill to hire new workers as contract negotiations with union fail". WHAS-TV. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  29. ^ Sylvestri, Shellie (October 19, 2021). "Heaven Hill hiring new employees as more than 400 workers stay on strike". WAVE. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021 – via MSN.
  30. The Courier-Journal. With contributions from Ben Tobin. Gannett. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021 – via MSN
    .
  31. ^ a b Julianna, Leach (October 18, 2021). "No resolution in Heaven Hill strike". The Kentucky Standard. Landmark Media Enterprises. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  32. AP News. Associated Press. October 23, 2021. Archived
    from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  33. ^ a b c d Hayden, Courtney; Kim-Martinez, Isaiah (October 23, 2021) [October 22, 2021]. "Heaven Hill workers vote to end six-week strike, agreement reached on five-year contract". WHAS-TV. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  34. AP News. Associated Press. Archived
    from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  35. ^ "Heaven Hill strike ends, agreement reached with union on 5-year contract". WDRB. October 23, 2021. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

Further reading

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