Unions Support Changes to Bill to Privatize Liquor Sales

In what looks to be a welcome holiday gift to some 3,800 liquor store workers, the state legislature this week rewrote a privatization proposal for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board so that the employees can keep their jobs.

“This is a very positive development. Not everything is finalized yet, but this is very encouraging,” said Bill Epstein, a spokesman for the labor union that represents most of the employees.

According to Epstein and other sources, the state House Liquor Control Committee this week stripped out all sections of House Bill 11 that would have eliminated the Control Board, and the jobs of all of its employees.

They inserted new language that will liberalize laws governing the sale of wine and beer, but will preserve the jobs of liquor store workers, Epstein said.

What’s Next for Proposed Law

Some uncertainty remains, however. The proposal now moves to the full House where it may be acted upon as early as next week. The proposal is subject to amendment, or may be returned to the committee for further modification.

PLCB spokeswoman Stacey Witalec told Patch that “historically the board does not comment on specific legislative proposals. We prefer to leave it up to elected to officials to make their own decisions.”

Changes to Bill Flip Union’s Opinion

“Privatization always has been and remains something we oppose. But the debate changed,” with the action to modify the original proposal, United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1776 Wendell Young said in a statement.

“The committee has rejected a divisive effort to put thousands of employees out on the street….Now that House Bill 11 is behind us, we hope lawmakers will consider common sense modernization proposals that can be made to the current system,” Young said.

UFCW Local 1776, based in Plymouth Meeting, and Pittsburgh-based UFCW Local 23 make up the bulk of the union workers employed by PLCB, Witalec said.

The two union locals account for about 3,200 workers statewide, according to Witalec. Other smaller unions and management personnel account for the remainder, she said.

Epstein added that UFCW officials are not complacent that this week’s action represents a total victory.

“Proposals to privatize the PLCB–and eliminate the jobs of thousands of hardworking union members–have been around for years, and we don’t expect them to go away overnight,” he said.

“But the action of the committee represents a realization that it just doesn’t make any sense to fire thousands of people. So we are encouraged,” Epstein said.