The reason is that the company, owned by the luxury group LVMH, wants to move the bottling of the cognac to China from the French region, something that the employees found out about last week. The company wants to avoid the new Chinese tariffs on the drink through the proposal.
Now, other local producers in the Cognac region are also threatening to go on a sympathy strike.
Hennessy workers do not want to be the precursors to a movement that aims to move part of the jobs to China. It would be a disaster for the region, says Hennessy worker and union representative Frederic Merceron to Bloomberg.
The workers are now urging the trade union to work towards including requirements for local bottling in the cognac's geographical designation of origin, similar to the rules for Champagne.
In addition to the fear of losing their jobs, the employees are also concerned about the risk of counterfeiting and a decline in quality.
