Victory for Workers in KY Bourbon Strike

This happened three weeks ago, but it's still important because union solidarity and determination killed the devastating pro-owner contract provision that has destroyed unions nationwide for the last 40 years:  the two-tier contract.

From the Courier:

The Four Roses strike ended Friday afternoon (Sept. 21) after the unions representing striking workers and the bourbon maker reached a tentative agreement.

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"We're all just excited. It's a good day for Four Roses and it's a good day for workers," said Jeff Royalty, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 10d.

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The workers left the job Sept. 7 and had picketed outside both locations until Friday afternoon, when the parties emerged from a day-long bargaining session.

A major issue for the unions was a company proposal to change the sick leave policy for incoming employees, providing workers 10 sick days per year but prohibiting them from carrying them over to the next year or bank them, as current employers can.

Instead, the new hires would have been eligible for short-term disability. The unions balked at what they described as a two-tier package for benefits that treats current workers differently from those hired later.    

In the end, Royalty said, the parties agreed that workers would get the option to keep the current sick leave policy or sign up for short-term disability. Both new workers hired in and those now on the payroll can choose either program, he said.

"We stood our ground on two tier," Royalty said, adding that the company was receptive to reaching a compromise.

From an op-ed the week before by union organizer Richard Becker:

 Production work came to a halt at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg on Sept. 7 and at the company’s bottling facility in Nelson County. The workers, who are represented by three different unions, have been in prolonged and fractious negotiations with the company for several weeks. After the company issued its “last, best, and final offer,” the workers nearly-unanimously rejected it and voted to go on strike. 

But this is no ordinary strike. What’s happening at Four Roses has implications for both the broader labor movement, as well as future generations of American workers.

Kirin Brewery Company, the parent company of Four Roses, has proposed a partial “two-tier” contract, in which future workers will have less paid time off than current workers. Two-tier union contracts have become increasingly common over the past several decades, but have only recently begun to capture the public’s attention. If you’ve followed the brewing unrest at UPS over their contract, you may have already heard of the concept. Essentially, a two-tier contract creates a second level of benefits and/or wages for workers hired after the effective date of the contract, while wages and benefits for current workers remain generally the same. 

Background: Union workers strike at Four Roses distillery just before bourbon fest

 

Obviously, companies seek to implement such systems in order to cut labor costs over the long term. And the evil genius of them is that their likelihood of passing in a vote by the workers is quite high because in theory, current workers have nothing to lose from such a setup. That’s what makes these workers’ resistance to the company’s proposal so uniquely selfless. These workers understand that two-tier contracts are potentially devastating for the survival of a vibrant American labor movement. 

These types of contracts create a divided workplace atmosphere. To give a hypothetical example, two workers on an assembly line working side by side and doing the same job, may have wildly different rates of pay, with the worker who’s been at the company three years making $25/hour with possible top-out pay of $40/hour over the course of his career, while the newer worker makes $17/hr with a maximum top-out pay of $30/hour by the time he retires. 

The story around this strike goes further than two-tier contracts, though. Generally, unions have come to expect companies to demand concessions during difficult times in the industry. But right now, the bourbon industry, and Four Roses in particular, is booming. Global demand for Kentucky’s signature spirit and profits for bourbon manufacturers are through the roof, and Four Roses has just completed a multi-million dollar expansion of their production facility. That leaves only one explanation for why Four Roses is offering its workers the worst contract since Prohibition: corporate greed. 

Just as President Reagan’s firing of striking air traffic controllers nearly 40 years ago set off a new era of anti-union sentiment among American businesses, so too has Gov. Bevin’s relentless assault on workers’ rights – particularly passage of the so-called “Right to Work” law – unleashed a wave of anti-worker attacks by Kentucky employers. Emboldened by a government that tells them that, in the words of Gordon Gecko, “greed is good,” Four Roses and other employers across the commonwealth are waging a campaign of attrition on workers both union, and non-union. And at the end of the day, it won’t just be union workers who suffer. 

The whole country should be watching this strike. How the two sides end this dispute will likely help drive the next phase of negotiations at UPS and other companies locked in similar conflict. 

As Kentucky celebrates the Bourbon Heritage Festival this week, all Kentuckians should unite in supporting the workers putting it all on the line to ensure a brighter future for all workers.

Your All-Purpose Response to Anything Repugs Do

From Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, who was talking about the Trump Gestapo's demand for private data on every Bluegrass voter, but who hit on the perfect response for all repug/trumpian stupidity:

There is not enough bourbon here in Kentucky to make this seem sensible.*

* Keeping in mind that Kentucky is the galactic capital of bourbon production and at any given time there are several million metric liquid fucktons of bourbon sloshing around the Commonwealth.

You Don't Have A Good Job Because Employers Like Jim Beam Won't Hire the People They Need

So 250 well-paid workers at Jim Beam Distilleries in Kentucky are on strike.

Not for higher pay; they're some of the highest-paid manufacturing workers in the country.

Not for better conditions; Jim Beam treats them OK.

No, they're on strike for fewer hours.

This is the dirty little secret of the recovering economy; instead of hiring all the people they really need - and paying them a living wage - employers are keeping skeleton crews and working them to death.

From the Courier:

On Saturday, employees of the Jim Beam facilities in Clermont and Boston, Kentucky, entered a strike following failed contract negotiations that they say didn't place enough emphasis on hiring more full-time employees to reduce current workers' hours.


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But Mudd said that while the employees realize they are paid well, they also feel that the company has neglected to hire the number of full-time workers needed to keep up with production demands.

"The reason they didn't do it was because the workload fluctuated so much," Mudd said, acknowledging that bourbon production is traditionally seasonal. "They always said they didn't want to hire (full-time employees) because when the workload drops off, then they would have to lay them off. But for the past two to three years, the workload has been consistently on the high side."

Remember: corporations have loyalty to no one and nothing but profits. They will sell out their employees, sell out their communities, sell out their country. Always.

Who Will Step Up to Defend Kentucky Bourbon?

Even Tennessee's Jack Fucking Daniels knows better than to call itself Bourbon, but they're begging for a beating down in Arkansas.

David M.F. Shankula at Barefoot and Progressive:

Apparently some place in Arkansas — the state’s first legal distillery since the end of prohibition — is making “bourbon.” It’s aged three to six months.

The Courier-Journal does a good job of going through the various oddities of this “bourbon” and the wider “bourbon” industry growth:

The craft distillery segment seems to be booming – there are operations in Texas, New York, Washington and now in Arkansas.

But one is left wondering what Kentucky can do to protect actual Bourbon from what might as well be cheap Chinese knock-offs.

For instance, a few years ago, Sweden and the other real Vodka-making countries got together to fight other countries that had started making “vodka”:

“Real vodka can only be made from grain or potatoes,” says Rolands Gulbis, head of Latvijas Balzams, the largest vodka distiller in the Baltics, whose vodka making tradition dates to 1900 when Czar Nicholas II of Russia built a vodka storage house here. “If vodka can be made out of grapes, then we might as well call an apple an orange and rename brandy as beer.”

But the definition of vodka is no longer as clear as the transparent spirit.

A vodka war has broken out in Europe. On one side are traditionalists – in Poland, Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries – who argue that only spirits made exclusively from cereals, potatoes and sugar-beet molasses are worthy of the name “vodka.” On the other are distillers – in Italy, France, Britain, and the Netherlands – who are fighting for a more liberal definition of vodka. They contend that vodka’s taste does not derive from its ingredients. After all, James Bond specified that his vodka martini should be “shaken, not stirred.” He never insisted it be made from grain or potatoes.

And of course there’s also the case of Champagne. Any old fool can make a bottle of bubbly — presumably even somebody from Arkansas — but what they can’t do is call it “champagne.” That one’s so serious it’s covered by two international treaties:

There are many sparkling wines produced worldwide, yet most legal structures reserve the term “champagne” exclusively for sparkling wines from the Champagne region, made in accordance with Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne regulations. In the European Union and many other countries, the name Champagne is legally protected by the Treaty of Madrid (1891) designating only the sparkling wine produced in the eponymous region and adhering to the standards defined for it as an Appellation d’origine contrôlée; the right was reaffirmed in the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. This legal protection has been accepted by numerous other countries worldwide. Most recently Canada, Australia, and Chile signed agreements with Europe that will limit the use of the term “champagne” to only those products produced in the Champagne region. The United States acknowledges the exclusive nature of the “champagne” term and bans the use from all new US produced wines. Only those that had approval to use the term on labels before 2006 may continue to use it and only when it is accompanied by the wine’s actual origin (e.g. California).

So yes. Kentucky makes Bourbon. Tennessee makes Whiskey.

Arkansas can call theirs something else. Like “Pig Liquor.”

Somebody get Steve Beshear on the horn. Or at least David Williams.

September is Kentucky Bourbon Heritage Month

Just in time for the swift-boating olympics the repugs call a convention, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has declared September "Kentucky Bourbon Heritage Month."

In the immortal words of Dave Barry: I am not making this up.

“Kentucky bourbon has become not only an American icon, but a leading international symbol of our proud heritage and craftsmanship,” Beshear said. “It has benefitted generations of Kentuckians, and its increasing appeal will mean even larger rewards for the Commonwealth.

“We’re proud that Kentucky is the birthplace of bourbon. It’s an honor to declare September ‘Bourbon Heritage Month’ in recognition of bourbon’s significant economic, agricultural and tourism impact in Kentucky and beyond.”

For you liquor philistines out there, only bourbon distilled in Kentucky is genuine bourbon. Slapping a "bourbon" label on some rot-gut bottled in, say, Tennessee, is actually against federal law. Ask the ATF. So make sure you're drinking real Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

Kentucky is home to historic distillers and international companies that together produce and market more than 95 percent of the world’s bourbon: Brown-Forman, Buffalo Trace, Constellation Spirits, Diageo North America, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve.

At the risk of offending some excellent bourbons, some of those labels are better with mixers than straight. My personal preference for a genuine sipping bourbon is Woodford Reserve, though Knob Creek is also quite fine. And the classic bourbon for Kentucky Derby Mint Juleps is Maker's Mark.

Bourbon production has more than doubled since 1999, the year the Kentucky Bourbon Trail was formed, said Eric Gregory, President of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association. New production last year was 937,865 barrels, compared to 455,078 in 1999.

Distilled spirits have a tremendous impact on Kentucky’s economy, Gregory said, including:

• More than $3 billion in gross state product
• More than 3,000 high-paying jobs
• Nearly $115 million in state and local taxes
• In addition, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail has become one of the state’s most famous and fastest growing tourist attractions, Gregory said, with travelers from all 50 states and 25 countries visiting the landmark distilleries.
  

And the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, held the third week in September each year, has grown to more than 55,000 visitors from 40 states and 14 countries, said Milt Spalding, the festival’s executive director.

“Bourbon is America’s only native spirit, and it’s uniquely Kentucky,” Gregory said. “We appreciate the support of Gov. Beshear and his administration in promoting Kentucky’s signature bourbon industry and celebrating its rich history and spirited future.”

Dick Cheney is addressing the repug convention on Monday night, September 1. Be sure to stock up before Sunday.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.