Philadelphia’s City Council will decide next week whether to implement a soda tax, potentially becoming the biggest city in the United States to do so.
One major player behind the push: John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, the city’s most powerful union boss, who sees an opportunity for profit for his International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 and allies elsewhere in organized labor.
Philly estimates the 1.5-cent-per-ounce soda tax will raise $91 million annually. Some of that money will go to public-renovation jobs, which will use exclusively union construction labor, while other parts of the tax revenue will support pre-K education and K-12 schools, earning the backing of Johnny Doc’s allies at the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.
Mayor James Kenney proposed the soda tax not long after assuming office in January 2016, originally aiming for 3 cents an ounce — and it’s worth noting how instrumental Johnny Doc was in his election victory.
Local 98 gave Kenney the maximum contribution allowed, also providing at least $200,000 to a political action committee run by a Local 98 official that ran “independent” campaign ads in support of Kenney.
Johnny Doc also banded together with representatives from several other local unions, including the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which together gave more than $500,000 to Kenney’s mayoral campaign between 2013 and early 2015.
Interestingly, when Kenney met with soda-industry reps in March to discuss the proposed tax, he brought Johnny Doc with him.
Also pushing forward the soda tax: Councilman Bobby Henon, the former political director of Local 98, who recently told the local media that without Johnny Doc, “I wouldn’t be where I’m at.” Even during his tenure as a councilman, Henon remains on the Local 98 payroll, receiving more than $71,000 in compensation last year.
“If you f–k with my boy [Henon], I’ll f–k with you!” Johnny Doc reportedly thundered at opponents of the soda tax a City Council meeting last month. (He denies this, claiming he more demurely said, “Look, you guys play with Henon, lose my number.”)
Johnny Doc’s creative bombast on the soda tax is totally in character. As Heat Street reported last month, a few of his recent escapades include buying drones, which builders fear will be used to intimidate and harass them when they cross the union, and allegedly punching a non-union contractor in the nose. (Oddly enough, surveillance video of the altercation has some gaps where the time skips, and the guy who provided it to authorities is seen holding Johnny Doc’s scarf in parts of the video.)
While unions can expect cash flow from the soda tax, the benefit to Philadelphia residents is less clear.
The city’s finance director recently acknowledged the soda tax is “regressive,” hitting poor neighborhoods the hardest. Proponents say the tax falls on retailers, not consumers. But in Berkeley, California — currently the biggest city in America with such a levy — soda consumers ended up covering about 70% of the tax as retail prices increased.
— Jillian Kay Melchior writes for Heat Street and is a fellow for the Independent Women’s Forum and the Steamboat Institute.
