Heaven Hill Distillery workers voted to end their six-week strike, United Food & Commercial Workers Local 23D said.
In a statement, Heaven Hill said it was “grateful to learn the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 23-D ratified a new five-year contract with Heaven Hill. We look forward to welcoming our team members as we transition back to normal operations. The agreement continues Heaven Hill’s long-standing commitment to its team members with industry-leading health care, wage growth and increased schedule flexibility.”
Key provisions of the new Heaven Hill union contract:
- Healthcare affordability protected by maintaining industry-leading health benefits and increasing employer contribution by 4.25%.
- Pay increase of up to $3.09 per hour over the life of the contract.
- Overtime pay protected by maintaining previous number of minimum hours required.
- Fair scheduling maintained with traditional 40-hour work week on Mondays through Fridays to ensure employees are not forced to work on weekends.
- Vacation benefits and paid holidays increased to help workers spend more time with family.
- Retirement savings strengthened by increasing 401(k) match by the company from 7% to 8%.
The $500 million company and union negotiated for more than 6 months to reach an agreement for these Kentucky workers. In July 2021, the union called for a federal mediator to join the process to help to advance talks with the company. On Sep. 9, Heaven Hill workers voted on the company’s latest proposal and 96% of workers rejected the contract proposal and the strike began on Sept. 11 at midnight.
The new agreement was reached about a week after the union said the company was looking to replace the striking workers.