Martin Luther King County Labor Council Passes Resolution Against Beverage Tax
6/2/17
From Vending Market Watch
Martin Luther King County Labor Council Passes Resolution Against Beverage Tax MAY 26, 2017 SOURCE: TEAMSTERS LOCAL 174
Resolution is an important step in fight against Seattle’s proposed beverage tax
SEATTLE, May 22, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On Wednesday May 17, 2017, Teamsters Local 174 presented a Resolution before the Martin Luther King County Labor Council urging them to “Beware of the Beverage Tax: It is not what it seems.” The Resolution, which demanded that any beverage tax proposal include measures to address the negative impact on working families, was passed by the Council in a unanimous vote of the delegates.
In recent years, beverage taxes have become more and more attractive as potential revenue sources for cities and municipalities across the United States, including in the City of Seattle. However, these taxes have been shown time and time again to be destroyers of good jobs in the beverage industry and other related industries. Despite mounting evidence of this, beverage tax proponents have consistently failed to consider the adverse impacts these taxes have on the thousands of Union members who produce, warehouse, and deliver these products.
This Resolution demands that these adverse impacts be taken into account, and if they are not, then the Labor Council will be duty bound to oppose and defeat the proposal.
“We are pleased that the Martin Luther King County Labor Council has taken this important step in protecting working people in the City of Seattle,” said Teamsters Joint Council 28 President Rick Hicks. “A beverage tax inSeattle would be devastating to workers in the beverage and related industries, and it is time the proponents of this tax started taking that seriously. This Resolution is a step in that direction.”
The full text of the Resolution is below: