The battle over bourbon continues at Jim Beam Distillery.

Jim Beam union workers have been striking since midnight on Friday, but it’s not because of pay, it’s due to the long hours they are forced to work and the disrespect of their seniority.

Jim Beam makes some of the world’s best whiskey and bourbon right here locally in Clermont, Bullitt County. More than 200 workers stopped making bourbon and hit the road sides to protest against the long hours and many more things impacting the workers.  Workers want more family time and a better quality of life. Many workers have been working 60-90 hours a week, causing tension and unrest at the distillery. Union workers want more people to get hired at Jim Beam so some of these problems will be solved. Hundreds of temporary employees can be seen working at Jim Beam but never get hired.

The Bourbon business has been booming over the past years and many new distilleries have opened up in bardstown, “the home to Bourbon”, to help with the high demands for the alcohol. Until recent years, commercial bourbon distilleries were only located along the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. According to the Kentucky Distillers Association (KDA), Kentucky’s inventory of aging Bourbon hit a 40-year high of 5.67 million barrels in 2014. The tally marks the state’s highest level of inventory since 1975 and the largest production year since 1970. Kentucky is the home of Bourbon and crafts 95 percent of all bourbon in the world.

The company wants to find a resolution in a timely manner. The union workers plan to continue  negotiations with Jim Beam Tuesday.