Employees at a cannabis cultivation operation in Massachusetts voted on Tuesday to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, the latest victory for organized labor in the cannabis industry.
According to a news release from the UFCW, workers at Cultivate Holdings in Leicester voted by an “overwhelming majority” to join the labor union’s Local 1445, making the organization the official bargaining agent for employees at the facility.
Employees at a cannabis cultivation facility in Massachusetts voted to unionize, a further indication that organized labor is picking up steam since the coronavirus pandemic.
Workers at Mayflower Medicinals in Holliston Massachusetts, voted to join the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 1445, according to the Worcester Business Journal.
Mayflower is owned by New York-based iAnthus Capital Holdings.
Weed workers across the country are unionizing, and California just made it easier for them.
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a requirement that all cannabis stores enter into so-called “labor peace agreements” as soon as they have 20 or more employees.
California is now one of two states — New York is the other — that requires licensed weed shops to make a deal with a formal labor union in which managers promise not to stop workers from joining a union. And in exchange, organizers won’t encourage labor strikes against the company.
It’s no secret: cannabis is the talk of the nation, and in New Jersey “marijuana” is all the rage: from the taxes it will be bring into the state, to how many mergers will happen before a single plant is grown, everyone wants to be involved in this new, exciting opportunity.
One topic that has not been given enough attention by politicians is the potential creation of thousands of jobs through the expansion of medical cannabis, and—fingers crossed—adult-use (also known as recreational) cannabis.
Overall, the measure would increase the number of medical permits for cannabis operations in New Jersey from 12 to 23, allow patients to buy more than two ounces at a time, end the requirement that patients see their doctor for a year or more of regular appointments, and establish a Cannabis Regulatory Commission to oversee the implementation of the medical marijuana program.