Unions file lawsuit challenging new Wash. liquor law
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Unions say the liquor privatization plan that voters approved last month violates the state Constitution.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, two unions contend that Initiative 1183 is improper because it breaks rules that legislation cannot address more than one subject. They contend that the liquor privatization effort included other issues such as changing rules on wine distribution and how the Liquor Control Board regulates the industry.
One of the unions, United Food and Commercial Workers 21, represents hundreds of state employees that stand to lose their jobs when the new liquor rules go into effect. Voters approved the initiative last month with about two-thirds of the vote.
The unions alleged Costco Wholesale Corp., which supported the measure, deceived the public by failing to address the other issues during public debate.
"Our democracy is threatened when one corporation like Costco can write a complex initiative, pay for the signatures, pay for the ads that control the debate, all the while avoiding discussion on the other parts of the proposal that are the true motivations by the corporation in the 1st place," said Tom Geiger, communications director of UFCW 21, in a written statement. "Costco did it this way to hide the fact of these other provisions. And that is in essence the reason why the single subject rule exists. To limit the deceitfulness, it requires the advocates for an initiative to be truthful about what is and is not in the initiative."
Costco had committed $22 million to supporting the measure - $6 for every registered voter - as executives portrayed the Issaquah-based company as a crusader for consumers and said that it could take years to make up the investment in the initiative. The spending was the largest ever from one donor in Washington.
The new rules go into effect in June.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, two unions contend that Initiative 1183 is improper because it breaks rules that legislation cannot address more than one subject. They contend that the liquor privatization effort included other issues such as changing rules on wine distribution and how the Liquor Control Board regulates the industry.
One of the unions, United Food and Commercial Workers 21, represents hundreds of state employees that stand to lose their jobs when the new liquor rules go into effect. Voters approved the initiative last month with about two-thirds of the vote.
The unions alleged Costco Wholesale Corp., which supported the measure, deceived the public by failing to address the other issues during public debate.
"Our democracy is threatened when one corporation like Costco can write a complex initiative, pay for the signatures, pay for the ads that control the debate, all the while avoiding discussion on the other parts of the proposal that are the true motivations by the corporation in the 1st place," said Tom Geiger, communications director of UFCW 21, in a written statement. "Costco did it this way to hide the fact of these other provisions. And that is in essence the reason why the single subject rule exists. To limit the deceitfulness, it requires the advocates for an initiative to be truthful about what is and is not in the initiative."
Costco had committed $22 million to supporting the measure - $6 for every registered voter - as executives portrayed the Issaquah-based company as a crusader for consumers and said that it could take years to make up the investment in the initiative. The spending was the largest ever from one donor in Washington.
The new rules go into effect in June.
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