Barton 1792 parent charged with unfair labor practices by O’born worker union

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Sunday, April 19, 2020 — Sazerac, the parent company of the 1792 Barton Distillery, has been accused of unfair labor practices by the company’s union employees working at the Glenmore Distillery in Owensboro.

In addition to Glenmore and Barton 1792 Distillery, Sazerac also owns Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort.

According to an Owensboro Times story by Ryan Richardson, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227 has filed three unfair labor practice charges against Sazerac on behalf of the Glenmore employees the union represents.

The most serious of those charges alleges the company has engaged in bad faith bargaining from the beginning of contract negotiations, according to Caitlin Blair, spokesperson for UFCW Local 227.

The charges were filed with the National Labor Relations Board. Federal labor law says both the union and company have to engage in good faith bargaining in negotiations over a union contract.

“Good faith bargaining means you listen to the other side and you are open to reaching compromises,” Blair said. “Our experience with Glenmore over the last several weeks in negotiations is that their mentality has been a take-it-or-leave-it mentality, which is the epitome of bad faith bargaining.”

The union and Glenmore have been in negotiations for several weeks. On Monday, April 13th, in a secret ballot vote, 95% of union members voted to reject the company’s final offer. The current contract — after a brief extension — expired at midnight Tuesday. They have been working without a contract since Wednesday.

Amy Preske, public relations manager for Sazerac company, said they were disappointed the union rejected the company’s last, best and final offer, which was presented on April 7.

“The company has at all times bargained in good faith and has made many concessions on its own proposals, as well as agreeing to many proposals made by the union,” she said Thursday. “This proposal contains many provisions on which both parties reached agreement, maintains the excellent benefit package enjoyed by our employees, and improves the wages for all our employees.”

Blair said the best case of bad faith bargaining began after the “no” vote was cast. Since then, the union claims that Sazerac started busing in workers from across the U.S., mostly from Northwest Ordinance Distillery in New Albany, Ind. — which is the company’s only non-union facility.

“They have been, for weeks, training these new employees to do our members’ work. Now they’re bringing them to Owensboro,” Blair said. “Their excuse for it initially was that it was because of COVID-19-related absences, but the reality is over the last couple of weeks those absences have gone down.”

Blair said those new workers have also not been subject to the same protocols, according to union members.

“Not only are they bringing workers in from out of state — which we think could potentially violate the governor’s executive order on travel if they’re not quarantining for 14 days — but reports from our union members are telling us that they are also letting these temporary workers circumvent the safety protocols that have been put into place to stop to spread of COVID-19 in this plant,” Blair said.

One specific example alleged by the union is that the current members have to wait in line to take their temperature as a health screening before entering, but the new workers are being taken directly into the plant.

Preske countered those claims.

“We are bringing in temporary employees from Southern Indiana to complement our existing workforce, which is experiencing a high level of absenteeism,” Preske said. “Gov. Beshear’s executive order states employees are permitted to travel into Kentucky when required by employment. The Glenmore Distillery has been deemed an essential business for spirits, as well as for the production of hand sanitizer, which we are producing for some of the world’s largest companies. All employees, including temporary employees, are given temperature scans before entering the Glenmore Distillery and are subject to the same social distancing requirements applicable to our employees.”

Negotiations are still ongoing.

“The company is confident that it has more than met all legal obligations associated with the negotiation of the successor labor agreement and that the Unfair Labor Practice charges filed by the union will after investigation, be dismissed by the National Labor Relations Board,” Preske said. “The union’s unwillingness to agree to proposals that we believe are important for the future of the Glenmore Distillery does not support an allegation the company has not bargained in good faith.”

However, Blair said the union does not share those feelings:

“I think it’s clear that the company’s intention has been from day one that if these workers didn’t cave in to their intimidation and fear tactics, they were going to lock them out.”

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