Brown-Forman to cut 30 to 40 jobs at Louisville bottling facility, shift work to Tennessee

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville-based wine and spirits giant is cutting roughly a quarter of jobs at its Derby City bottling facility as it shifts work to Tennessee.

Brown-Forman spokeswoman Elizabeth Conway told The Courier Journal on Monday the move will impact 30 to 40 workers at the Louisville facility, housed at its corporate campus.

Conway said Brown-Forman will return the bottling of the honey and apple flavors of its Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey to the Lynchburg, Tennessee, facility where the popular brand is produced.

"We made this decision for business reasons — doing so eliminates the transportation cost of moving the liquid from Lynchburg to Louisville and increases efficiency," Conway wrote in an email Monday.

"The moving of bottling volumes within our network is not unusual, as this product has previously been bottled at both locations, but these decisions are never easy to make," Conway continued. "We will ensure the support services outlined in their contracts are provided."

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There are roughly 160 employees represented by the Teamsters Local 89 labor union at the Louisville bottling facility in the California neighborhood. Conway said the union's bargaining unit and Brown-Forman are "currently in regularly scheduled contract negotiations."

A spokesman for the Teamsters Local 89 did not immediately reply to a phone call and email seeking comment.

Contact Ben Tobin at bjtobin@gannett.com and 502-377-5675 or follow on Twitter @Ben__Tobin.