boone Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I am a union member. UFCW, Local 23D--United Food and Commercial Worker's Union. Jim Beam is union---Barton is Union, both the same as us (HH), except different locals. Our (HH) contract expires on Sept. 11, 2006. Our Union has been negotiating with the company for nearly three weeks. Language issues have been set. They meet on Monday to negotiate some kind of proposal contract for a tally vote. Jim Beam (company) has already sent their first proposal to the union and it was flat out turned down with the vote being 174-52. We follow close on what each union is being offered. The company follows this too. Usually, they set the tone of what to expect. When I saw their contract proposal (Jim Beam's---see attachment) I read it and knew that if it were offered to me my vote would be "NO"... I thought some of ya would be interested in how the distillery's negotiate with their "workforce". Bettye Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesbassdad Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Bettye Jo,My squinters don't work as well as they used to. I'm tempted to ask what the hot-button issues are and your take on the likely outcome.However, management may be reading this thread, so I won't ask you to tip your hand. :grin: Yours truly,Dave Morefield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadewood Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 I looked over the attachments. It looks like there is shift from a Pension plan to 401K retirement program. This is a strong national trend. So while the pension multiplier increases don't look like much, the 401K program they are offering is pretty generous; a 50% percent match on up to the first 12% of earnings. That is a 6% raise if someone puts in the 12%. I much prefer a 410K plan over a pension. Too many companies have screwed with pension plan money (there are some federal guarantee on US pensions, but even that program is in trouble).It's hard for me to comment on health care issue because I'm not sure what they had before. I will say that as health care costs increased, most employers have passed on some of that cost to their workers with increased premiums. I pay $732/year to participate in my company health care program, which is coverage for just me; to cover spouse it would $1560 and spouse with kids -$2280. It also looks like they offer health care benefits to retired workers AND their spouses. That is a huge expense and potential major benefit that I doubt you will find offered at many companies these days.Drug Screening - Again, get used to it. I would bet 80% of fortune 500 companies have similar policy. I started new job at start of year and they cut 50 hairs to screen for drug use.Wages - This offer sucks. Inflation is currently at 4.5% a year and likely to increase. When wages don't keep pace with inflation, your true earning power decreases. They try to make a one time signing bonus into a % raise. Tell them to keep the signing bonus and make that raise a true 4.5% with the same for years 2-5. Bettye Jo - what part of this offer would make you vote 'NO'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadewood Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Bettye Jo - 9-11 (contract date) has come and gone. Did this get settled or extended? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boone Posted September 30, 2006 Author Share Posted September 30, 2006 Bettye Jo,However, management may be reading this thread, so I won't ask you to tip your hand. :grin: Yours truly,Dave MorefieldI am not going to elaborate alot with this issue, right now. Just a small update.Our contact expired Sept. 11...We have been working without one, but negotiating. It's been nasty to say the least. A Arbitrator was called in and left without success.We voted today. United Food and Commercial Worker's Union, Local 23D.The vote:256-----> NO02------> YESBettye JoBTW...The proposal that I posted is Jim Beam. Not Heaven Hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyc Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 It's been nasty to say the least. Things have changed since Harry Kroll scribbled out page 58 of Bluegrass,Belles,and Bourbon. "Mr. Shapira, when I went in to interview him,made a remark that has stuck in my mind. "We have a wonderful relationship with our employees.We have no union here." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boone Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 Things have changed since Harry Kroll scribbled out page 58 of Bluegrass,Belles,and Bourbon. "Mr. Shapira, when I went in to interview him,made a remark that has stuck in my mind. "We have a wonderful relationship with our employees.We have no union here."Heaven Hill workforce has been union for 37 years.Bettye Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Heaven Hill workforce has been union for 37 years.Bettye JoKroll's book was published in 1967, i.e., two years before the union got in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward_call_me_Ed Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Kroll's book was published in 1967, i.e., two years before the union got in.Just goes to show, what management considers a wonderful relationship and what labour considers to be a wonderful relationship might not be the same thing.Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T47 Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 I was never a Union supporter...pretty much felt they did nothing but take care of the laziest most troublesome of my peers...felt that way for the first 15 years. Then I watched my employer try and get rid of a friend of mine after a catastrophic on duty accident. He had 20 years with the city. It was ugly and unfair (He beat the city in a law suit over the whole thing). I now accept the fact that my employer is the enemy and has no respect for its employees or their years of service and without the protection of my guild I would be a sitting duck for them. I still love going to work every day, love the people I work around and the work I do...but that relationship with my employer will never be the same...ever. Best of luck Bettye Jo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 ...I now accept the fact that my employer is the enemy and has no respect for its employees or their years of service...Well, sometime the 'union' isn't much better. To paraphrase Will Rogers, I'm not a member of any organized union -- I'm a teacher. And we know the teacher's unions don't like to be called 'unions'. Anyway, Tennessee is a 'right-to-work' state, which means no employee has to join a union/organization in order to attain/keep a job, and I dropped my membership in the teachers' groups long ago. Still, the local unit of the Tennessee/National Education Association is the bargaining unit for local teachers, so I get what they negotiate.Salary is an item open for negotiation annually. Last spring, the teachers and the school board agreed to a 3.4% raise for the coming (current) school year. The county commission -- which, by the way, gave the rest of county employees an over-4% pay increase -- balked, and failed to fund it. So, the school board came back and said, sorry, all we can give you is a 2.4% raise. And the teachers' union has agreed to reopen the negotiations in order to accept that instead of saying, "We have a duly-signed agreement with you for 3.4%, so fund it, even if it requires you to take the county commission to court!" (This last tactic is frequently used successfully around Tennessee when commissioners routinely over-promise low tax rates to voters.)So, bottom line: teachers will accept 2.4% this year -- or a percent less than last year's inflation -- while the rest of the county employees get 4%+. For me, since I topped out on my salary scale a couple of years ago and so don't get a 'step' increase anymore, it means I'm actually taking a 'real-money' pay cut. I've had a pay increase that met or exceeded inflation exactly once over the last decade. In that time, several years saw no increase at all, either locally or from the state. So much for teachers 'unions'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasH Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 I hear alot of bashing about unions all the time. being a steelworker, I have friends and relatives that think I'm made of money and sit around and relax all day. None of them work 6 day weeks, work swing shift, or work all major holidays except July 4th and Christmas day. It has never occurred to any of them that I have worked hard doing these things for 21+ years and that I have what I have because I took good care of what I earned, not because it was given to me. the price of gasoline and natural gas alone warrants a pay raise to meet inflation. Those 2 items influence nearly everthing else we purchase. People can moan about unions all they want, If they belonged to mine, they would be quite thankful for the wages and insurance we work for. I have no problem if these people don't like unions, let them drag through life while working 20 hours a week for bottom tier wages at Walmart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonJoe Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 I hear alot of bashing about unions all the time. being a steelworker, I have friends and relatives that think I'm made of money and sit around and relax all day. None of them work 6 day weeks, work swing shift, or work all major holidays except July 4th and Christmas day. It has never occurred to any of them that I have worked hard doing these things for 21+ years and that I have what I have because I took good care of what I earned, not because it was given to me. the price of gasoline and natural gas alone warrants a pay raise to meet inflation. Those 2 items influence nearly everthing else we purchase. People can moan about unions all they want, If they belonged to mine, they would be quite thankful for the wages and insurance we work for. I have no problem if these people don't like unions, let them drag through life while working 20 hours a week for bottom tier wages at Walmart!What you say may be true but don't get too greedy. More than one union shop placed demands on the Company that were not tolerable. The company then either shuts it's doors or moves offshore. See how long the union pays you when that happens.Joe :usflag: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rughi Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 ...being a steelworker...My father was also a steelworker.One of the things I most respect about him is that after he left a union shop, for at least a decade of being either self-employed or a government worker he continued to pay his union dues (perhaps a lot longer, I never asked).I like to think that he was reminded of how hard it is to stay out on strike for those who are in fear of not being able to pay the mortgage. And also that the union he paid into helped to set the prevailing wage for all the self employed and govenment workers in his field.I'll ask him today.Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boone Posted October 19, 2006 Author Share Posted October 19, 2006 This article---see attachment...Was on the front page of the "Kentucky Standard"...I will get the proposal tonight. We will vote Friday.Bettye JoThe Kentucky Standard Online.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashPuppy Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Keep us posted Bettye Jo. I hope that you don't have to strike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boone Posted October 21, 2006 Author Share Posted October 21, 2006 Keep us posted Bettye Jo. I hope that you don't have to strike.It's finally over...The vote:163 yes97 no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TnSquire Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 NO strike! Thats good for the drinkers! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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