Hourly workers at Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey are organizing in an effort to make the Nashville distillery possibly the first in the state with union representation.
Dylan Lancaster, a front-of-house employee and tour guide at Nelson’s Green Brier, says he hand-delivered a letter seeking recognition of a union organized with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1995 to his supervisor earlier today.
The letter, a copy of which was reviewed by the Scene, says that a majority of the distillery’s employees have signed onto the effort seeking representation. Lancaster says that 80 percent of the approximately 35 eligible workers are in support of the effort. According to the letter, eligible workers include gift-shop workers, bottlers, distillers and more who are paid hourly.
“Nelson's Green Brier is owned by Constellation Brands, which is a multibillion-dollar company. Throughout the pandemic we've been asking for raises, and they’ve given us all the classic lines, like ‘raises don’t happen overnight; we're a family,’ and we're getting paid well below the industry standard in a city that has an astronomical standard of living,” Lancaster says.
Brothers Andy and Charlie Nelson launched Nelson’s Green Brier in 2012 as a revival of a 19th-century Nashville distillery run by their ancestor, Charles Nelson. Constellation Brands — which owns Corona and Svedka, among other beer and liquor brands — first invested in Nelson’s Green Brier in 2016 and took a majority stake in 2019. The company's products include the popular Belle Meade Bourbon.
Representatives from Constellation Brands did not immediately return a request for comment.
Though Tennessee and Kentucky together represent a major chunk of the worldwide whiskey industry, Kentucky’s distilleries are widely unionized while Tennessee companies are not. Workers at Heaven Hill in Bardstown, Ky., went on strike for six weeks earlier this year. Employees at the bourbon maker are represented by another chapter of UFCW.
“Not only are we getting paid less than our counterparts in Bardstown, Ky., for example, but we live in Nashville trying to do that job for less money, and trying to make ends meet has been very difficult,” Lancaster says.
He hopes that Constellation will voluntarily recognize the union rather than “dragging it out and taking it to an election.”
The Central Labor Council, an umbrella group for local labor, put out a call for supporters Friday, asking them to urge Constellation to voluntarily recognize the union.
“Our company constantly talks about our original founders, Charles and Louisa Nelson, who were very compassionate individuals who treated their workers very well,” Lancaster, who joined the company after the 2019 purchase, says. “Since our distillery got bought by Constellation, we've not felt that love that we wax poetic about on our tours. I would just like to be able to pay my rent and not live paycheck to paycheck. A lot of my co-workers feel the same way.”
