In a press release the International Brotherhood of Teamsters commended the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs for passing the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, earlier today.
The SAFER Banking Act (S. 2860) would “provide safer working conditions for cannabis workers by amending federal laws to allow their employers more access to traditional financial services”, says the press release, which notes that “most legitimate cannabis proprietors are forced to work entirely in cash, which puts their staff and customers at risk of violent theft and robbery.”
Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien in a letter to the committee said as Congress “works to establish the necessary guardrails around cannabis legalization, the labor and safety interests of workers must be paramount. Passing SAFER banking is a necessary part of this process and can help improve working conditions while easing operational burdens for employers across the country.”
Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and Director of the Teamsters Food Processing Division, said that this “is a perfect example of the Teamsters working with responsible, ethical employers in the cannabis industry on mutually beneficial public policy. Everyone in the cannabis industry — workers, consumers, and business — supports the SAFER Banking Act. It puts rank-and-file cannabis workers one step closer to securing sustainable, middle-class union jobs. Congress needs to act on this commonsense bipartisan legislation as quickly as possible.”
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million workers in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Shortly after the Senate committee passed the SAFER Banking Act, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to give it a floor vote “very soon”.
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