A blog chronicling the evolution and implementation of cannabis laws in the United States
This past month, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) took a big step forward in its efforts to unionize cannabis employees.
On May 25, 2021, UFCW announced an agreement to unionize the entire workforce of Union Harvest and Nature’s Root Labs. Nature’s Root Labs is the manufacturer for Union Harvest. This agreement encompasses workers in production, packaging, purchasing, sales and…
Continue Reading Continued Labor Movement Momentum in Cannabis
On March 31, 2021, New York legalized the recreational use of cannabis, enacting “The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act.”
This new law legalizes personal possession of cannabis, home cultivation of cannabis, and allows for the expungement of certain marijuana convictions. Importantly, it also modifies New York Labor Law to impose new restrictions on employers.
New York’s cannabis law…
Continue Reading New York: Legalized Recreational Use of Cannabis & New Protections for Employees
With the cannabis industry’s growth into a multi-billion dollar industry, employing about 321,000 individuals, comes the intensification of focus from unions viewing the industry as a large growth opportunity. Much of the union organizing to date has been led by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which launched a cannabis organizing campaign in 2011.
Since October 2020, efforts to unionize workers in the cannabis industry kicked into overdrive. Ten cannabis facility workers voted to unionize in those five months throughout the country in Rhode Island, California, DC, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Illinois.
This past month in Chicago, 40 employees at Sunnyside Cannabis Dispensary in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood became the first dispensary workers in Illinois to ratify a union contract. Additionally the state’s first cannabis union contract was ratified in December by more than 180 workers at the Cresco Labs cultivation center in Joliet.Continue Reading Unionization Efforts Spreading Throughout the Cannabis Industry
