With the defeat of the New York Soda Tax still fresh in all of our minds, this past year Mayor Bloomberg wanted to take another crack at harming the companies our members work for. Despite Coca Cola's million-dollar donation towards Hurricane Sandy Relief, the CEO Mutar Kent got a slap of reality in New York politics.
While most of the companies stepped back, 812 stepped forward. Teamsters Local 812 Attorney Barry Levy (from the law firm Rivkin Radler) went to war with the Health Department and Mayor Bloomberg. Secretary Treasurer Joe Vitta and Business Agent Angel Martinez spoke on the steps of City Hall and in front of the NYC Health Department. This soda ban could have resulted in the loss of hundreds of 812 beverage jobs. We took the Mayor head on and WON!
Local 812 recruited and worked closely with the following organizations in order to get this ban removed, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Joint Council 16, Teamsters Brewery and Soft Drink Division, American Beverage Association, Pepsi Cola Distributors Association, New York Teamsters Hispanic and Black Caucus, NAACP, Minority Small Business Owners Association, National Association of Theatre Owners, the New York Restaurant Association and others.
The following is a statement from Ed Weber, President, IBT Local 812 Soft Drink & Brewery Workers in response to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Tingling's dismissal of the beverage ban:
“This decision shows that Bloomberg’s ‘my way or the highway’ has no legal standing and doesn’t work for New Yorkers. The judge’s action will preserve small business, the beverage industry, and good jobs for New Yorkers.”
