Outraged Over Low Wages, Woodford Reserve Employees Seek Unionization in Hopes of Securing ‘Better Pay, Healthcare and Job Security’

Woodford Reserve provides signature drinks during Philadelphia Style Magazine Cover Event Hosted By Chris Matthews on Nov. 19, 2012, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Philadelphia Style Magazine)

Employees at major Kentucky whiskey company Woodford Reserve are attempting to form a union, WKYT reported Monday.

According to WKYT, labor union Teamsters Local 651 said Woodford Reserve employees officially filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board on Oct. 12.

“Woodford Reserves workers are the lowest paid among the bourbon industry in the bluegrass region,” James Brant, Teamsters Local 651 president, said, per WKYT. Brant added that the employees are seeking “better pay, healthcare and job security” and that the organizing efforts began in February.

Last year, Kentucky distilling company Heaven Hill employees formed a union that eventually proved successful in achieving a new contract — but only after a long, dramatic saga involving a flipped truck, a restraining order against picketing employees, the company announcing it would hire new, permanent employees to replace union workers.

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