CBD OIL

A unionization effort filed for 17 employees at the Curaleaf medical dispensary in Hanover, Mass., went all the way to Washington, D.C., before a final decision on the results of a mail-in election was made earlier this month. The majority of ballots had been challenged, some of which remained sealed in the final vote count.

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328, which represents more than 11,000 workers in a range of industries throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, filed for the Curaleaf Hanover union election April 20, 2020—during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ballots went out to the Hanover team in May, and the original vote count was June 26. That vote came back 5-2 in favor of joining the Local 328, excluding 10 challenged ballots, which were determinative, meaning there were more challenged votes than the difference between yeses and noes.

“There was some fighting back and forth—because it was during COVID—about people that they were bringing in from other areas and having them work there,” UFCW Local 328 President Tim Melia said. “But they weren’t part of the Hanover group. The company was arguing that they should be part of the unit and should be able to vote on the contract. And we were arguing back the other way. So, there were some charges about who was eligible and who wasn’t when the vote came.” 

The challenged ballots took nearly 10 months to sort out. A federal investigation and hearing by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) examined the circumstances of the challenged ballots, which stemmed from which workers were employed at the Hanover location before government shutdowns and which workers were not. The Boston regional office of the NLRB determined that six of the 10 challenged ballots should not be counted. Curaleaf appealed that decision to the NLRB in Washington, D.C., where the labor board declined to hear the case, essentially upholding the ruling of the regional director in Boston.

The final vote was 8-3 in favor of the Curaleaf Hanover workers unionizing, which became official on April 9, 2021, roughly a year after the workers’ campaign was organized.

Local 328 organizers first connected with dispensary workers at Curaleaf Hanover in March 2020, a month before filing the unionization vote and before pandemic-related government shutdowns were enacted. At the time in Massachusetts, the shutdowns affected adult-use dispensaries while medical dispensaries like Curaleaf Hanover were deemed essential. 

“What ended up happening was that the company had sent over some workers from different locations because this is a purely medicinal facility [in Hanover] and the [adult-use] locations for Curaleaf had closed,” Local 328 Director of Organizing Sam Marvin said. “So, they had temporarily sent some workers from kind of far away to work at the medicinal location that was still open. And, so, essentially that made up some of the challenged votes.”

Curaleaf did not confirm the pre-shutdown whereabouts of its workers who represented the six challenged ballots that remained sealed, but the NLRB regional director in Boston determined those six should not be counted as part of the Hanover group. Had the six Hanover ballots that remained sealed all been no votes, then, theoretically, the union organization effort would have failed, 9-8.

A spokesperson from Curaleaf said the vote at the company’s Hanover dispensary was a “secret ballot election” but recognized that the final count was in fact in favor of union representation by the Local 328 for purposes of collective bargaining.

“While we’re disappointed with this outcome, because we believe team members are best served dealing directly with our management team, we respect the collective voice of our Hanover team members at the time and will seek to have a collaborative working relationship with the UFCW,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to prioritize creating a positive, supportive and inclusive work environment for all team members and provide our patients and customers with the excellent service they expect and deserve from Curaleaf.”

Going Beyond Wages and Benefits

When Cannabis Business Times reached out to Curaleaf following the final vote and asked in what ways the company prioritizes taking care of its employees and meeting their needs, the spokesperson said, “We welcome everyone to join our employee resource groups focused on fostering inclusion.” The company identified specific groups that have been developed to meet this priority:

• Black, Indigenous and People of Color (Curaleaf in Color)
• WCC (Women’s Cannabis Collective) 
• PRIDE/QUSH (Queer-Centered Unity and Service Huddle)
• Working Parents (FamiLeaf)
• Community and Volunteerism (Curaleaf Cares) 

Curaleaf also hosts panel discussions and support events for all team members: 

• Heritage Lunch-in (food dishes that represent our heritage—celebrating diversity) 
• “Black in Cannabis” panel discussion (education and awareness of the war on drugs and historical community impact of Black people in cannabis) 
• “AAPI in Cannabis” panel discussion (education and awareness of Asian American Pacific Islander communities in cannabis)
• Holding Space and communicating from the C-suite (for times of grief and support—scheduled often and as needed when team members request and/or crisis happen. E.g., George Floyd murder and trial, mass shootings, Asian hate crimes, etc.)
• “Help a Family” (sponsoring Curaleaf team members who are in additional financial need during the holiday season)
• Virtual yoga and meditation classes 

“Our team members are the heart and soul of our company,” the spokesperson said. “Their dedication and commitment to serving our patients and customers is exemplified by their incredible efforts during this challenging time as our country deals with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UFCW’s Push to Unionize Cannabis Workers

First organized by meat cutters and butchers in 1937, the Local 328 now represents workers in myriad industries, including retail food, institutional food, health care, banking, transportation, manufacturing, barbers, cosmetologists and now cannabis. But the push to unionize the cannabis space is just starting to unfold, both in the Local 328’s region and across the nation. Of the 11,000-plus workers represented by the Local 328, fewer than 100 are from the cannabis space. The union is working to increase that representation.

Earlier this month, dispensary workers at Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in Portsmouth, R.I., unionized by a 21-1 vote to join the Local 328. The organized effort includes budtenders, keyholders, online team members and delivery associates.

Local 328 now represents workers from four cannabis businesses, including the Ocean State Cultivation Center (OSCC) in Warwick, R.I., where workers officially became the state’s first unionized cannabis organization with a negotiated contract in October 2020. OSCC provides cannabis products to compassion centers operating in Portsmouth, Providence and Warwick that serve more than 18,000 cannabis patients in Rhode Island’s medical program.

Perfect Union, a vertically integrated operator and parent company of OSCC, with dispensaries in California, New Mexico and Rhode Island, began paying all employees an additional $2.50 per hour on March 16, 2020—at the onset of COVID-19 and while negotiations were still taking place with UFCW. The bonus pay extended to more than 200 employees, including those working in cultivation, distribution, manufacturing and retail.

“Taking care of our employees is one of our highest priorities,” Perfect Union CEO David Spradlin said in a Local 328 release. “We are pleased to be partnering with the UFCW Local 328 and helping to set a standard for workers in Rhode Island’s cannabis industry. Our partnership ensures our employees will be treated fairly and equitably, allowing us to better serve the community around us.”

The two parties agreed to a labor peace agreement in late 2019, which committed them to open, transparent dialogue throughout the negotiation process, Marvin said. A labor peace agreement is an arrangement between a union and an employer under which one or both sides agree to waive certain rights under federal law with regard to union organization and related activity. Such an agreement is more likely to lead to unionization of a workplace, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The finalized contract guarantees a living wage, comprehensive benefits, opportunities for career advancement and safe working conditions for OSCC employees, according to a Local 328 press release.

“The UFCW has been so important in turning these jobs into careers,” said Matthew Baryshyan, who works in cultivation at OSCC. “As this industry grows, so does our need to make sure our best interests are taken into consideration. We now have better wages, a pension plan, full benefits, vacation time, and the list goes on. The UFCW is making sure there is a future in cannabis, and it’s a bright one.”

Does Company Size Matter?

In addition, Local 328 representatives are currently negotiating a contract for the cannabis workers at a Cresco Labs cultivation and processing facility in Fall River, Mass. A multistate operator headquartered in Chicago, Cresco also operates one of its Sunnyside dispensaries in Fall River, after the company closed on its acquisition of Hope Heal Health Inc. in February 2020.

Earlier this year, more than 180 UFCW Local 881 members who work at Cresco Labs in Joliet, Ill., ratified a union contract that raised wages and improved benefits.

While Cresco Labs and Curaleaf are two of the biggest cannabis companies in the world, Marvin said workers throughout the industry essentially want the same thing—stability.

“Sometimes the smaller, medium-size companies will sell to a larger company,” he said. “So that’s why that’s one of the big issues for even the smaller, medium [companies] is to have some sense of protection and security in case that were to happen. They can still protect their unions, still protect their benefits and sit at the table with a new employer.”

As the biggest companies continue to grow in a sector with increasing revenues, workers of those companies want to ensure they are rewarded “in the industry where they’re creating these profits through their work,” Marvin said. This can take the shape of pay increases, ownership stakes or more inclusive workspaces.

Unionization efforts at Curaleaf Hanover and the Cresco Labs facility in Fall River come as the Massachusetts cannabis industry generated roughly $696 million in sales in 2020—a 56.4% increase from 2019, according to adult-use sales and production data from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission.

Since the adult-use system launched more than two years ago, Massachusetts cannabis sales have exceeded more than $1.5 billion overall. Cannabis sales in 2021 have already logged roughly $370 million through April, according to the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system.

Worker-Management Relations

Big or small, the Local 328 is pushing to extend its representation in the cannabis space. Sometimes organization efforts are met with cordial negotiations, and other times they are not, Marvin said.

As other state legislatures continue to debate and pass adult-use cannabis measures, lawmakers are including provisions in their bills that aim to deter anti-union practices on the part of cannabis business owners. For example, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation last week that gives the state’s incoming Cannabis Control Authority the power to strip licenses from any cannabis business that doesn’t remain neutral while its workers attempt to unionize.

Unionization can be good for both employers and employees, Marvin said. A key benefit made possible through unionization is that employers who may have a tough time entering into industry pension funds could gain access through labor unions that represent their workers, Marvin said.

“For example, we have UFCW industry pension funds that we can now negotiate these employers into because they’re union,” he said. “And we also have access to our industry health and welfare funds as well. So, maybe for some employers that cost can be greater if they’re doing it alone.”

While workers can gain health care and a secure retirement through unionization—which is not to say they can’t gain those benefits without a union—improving their relations with management can translate to the customer experience and reduce turnover, Marvin said.

“We don’t want to see an industry that has a high turnover where patients and customers are going in and seeing a new face every day,” he said. “We want to see that these are good jobs, that workers can take care of their families and their patients and customers at the same time. And I think ultimately that’s very beneficial for the consumer—that they can cultivate that relationship with employees and expect to see them the week after, and the week after that.”

Continuing the Push

Although Local 328 representatives have a trio of moving parts in the cannabis space—including their current negotiation with Cresco Labs and upcoming negotiation efforts with Curaleaf and Greenleaf—Marvin and Melia said the budding sector is ripe for additional unionization. Union negotiations are often centered on wages, hours, benefits and working conditions, while others choose to organize in order to gain dignity and respect on the job, Melia said.

Specifically for workers in medical dispensaries, who were deemed essential in many states as they worked on the front lines during the pandemic, having personal protective equipment (PPE), social-distancing protocols and proper cleaning measures in place were important safety standards, Marvin said. In general, working during a pandemic was a tipping point for many workers in a variety of sectors to organize, he said.

Going hand-in-hand with job security, workers want to make sure they are no longer at-will employees, Marvin said. In U.S. labor law, at-will employment is an employer’s ability to dismiss an employee for any reason, and without warning, as long as the reason is not illegal.

“I think that the organizing that workers are doing now is essentially framing how these jobs are going to be not only today and tomorrow, but for years down the road,” he said. “So, again, we want to make sure these are good jobs and we’re going to continue to communicate and partner with cannabis workers.”

With the signing of the Cannabis Control Act (the Act) on April 21, 2021, Virginia became the first southern state to legalize adult use cannabis and just the fourth state to do so through the legislature. Legalizing adult use cannabis through the legislature, as opposed to through the ballot box, is not the typical route states have followed up to now. Eleven of the sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult use cannabis through the use of ballot measures. Virginia joins Vermont, Illinois, New York and New Mexico (which legalized after Virginia) as one of the few states that have gone the legislative route. Under Governor Northam’s administration, the path to legalization was swift, taking less than four months from introduction to passage.

Governor Northam added amendments to the already passed Senate Bill 1406 and the General Assembly voted to approve those amendments, with the Lieutenant Governor breaking the tie in the Senate’s vote. Upon signing, Governor Northam called the law a step towards “building a more equitable and just Virginia and reforming our criminal justice system to make it more fair.” This message and the opportunities to promote social equity through a legal cannabis industry have been consistent points of advocacy made by supporters as the bill advanced to becoming law.

Prior to the Governor’s amendments, the Act under consideration set July 1, 2024 as the date on which both legal possession and adult use sales would begin. The Governor decided to accelerate the date for legal possession to July 1 of this year, a decision believed to have been influenced by data showing that Black Virginians were more than three times as likely to be cited for possession, even after simple possession was decriminalized in the state a year prior. The regulated adult use market is still set to begin making sales on July 1, 2024; however, it remains possible that this date could be advanced through the legislature in the meantime. Nevertheless, Virginia is on track to becoming the first southern state with an operating regulated commercial cannabis market.

Creating an Administrative Structure for the Adult Use Program

This sweeping fifty-page law creates the Cannabis Control Authority to regulate the cultivation, manufacture, wholesale and retail sale of cannabis and cannabis product. The Act further lays the groundwork for licensing market participants and regulating appropriate use of cannabis; defining local control; testing, labeling, packaging and advertising of cannabis and cannabis products; and taxation. The Act also contains changes to the criminal laws of the Commonwealth. Companion to the Act are new laws addressing the testing, labeling and packaging of smokable hemp products and manufacturing of edible cannabis products. Additionally, the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board was created to address the impact of economic divestment, violence and criminal justice responses to community and individual needs through scholarships and grants.

While persons 21 years or older may possess up to one ounce of cannabis and cultivate up to four plants for personal use per household beginning on July 1, 2021, there are a host of regulations to be written in order to regulate the adult use market. These regulations will be the devil in the details of how the regulated market will work. Regardless, the Cannabis Control Act does establish the framework for adult use cannabis that is unique to Virginia and designed to promote and encourage participation from people and communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition and enforcement.

The Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) will consist of a Board of Directors, the Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council, the Chief Executive Officer and employees. The Board will have five members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the legislature, each with the possibility of serving two consecutive five-year terms. The Board is tasked with creating and enforcing regulations under which retail cannabis and cannabis products are possessed, sold, transported, distributed, and delivered. It is expected that the Board will begin discussing regulations next year and that applications for licenses for cannabis cultivation facilities, manufacturing facilities, cannabis testing facilities, wholesalers, and retail stores will begin to be accepted in 2023. Importantly, a Business Equity and Diversity Support Team, led by a Social Equity Liaison, and the Equity Reinvestment Board, led by the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, are to contribute to a plan to promote and encourage participation in the industry by people from disproportionately impacted communities.

Regulating Participation in the Market

The Act empowers the Board to establish a robust and diverse marketplace with many entry opportunities for market participants. Up to 450 cultivation licenses, 60 manufacturing licenses for the production of retail cannabis products, 25 wholesaler licenses and 400 licenses for retail stores can be granted. These numbers do not include the four permits granted to pharmaceutical processors (entities that cultivate and dispense medical cannabis) under the Commonwealth’s medical program.

In addition to the sheer number of licenses that can be granted, the Act devises a unique approach to addressing concerns of a concentration of licenses in too few hands and a market dominated by large multi-state operators. At the same time, it sets up a mechanism to capitalize two cannabis equity funds intended to benefit persons, families and communities historically and disproportionately targeted and affected by drug enforcement through grants, scholarships and loans. Over-concentration and market dominance concerns are addressed by limiting a person to holding an equity interest in no more than one cultivation, manufacturing, wholesaler, retail or testing facility license. This eliminates the ability of companies to be vertically integrated from cultivation through retail sales operations. However, there are two exceptions to the impediment to vertical integration. First, the Board is authorized to develop regulations that permit small businesses to be vertically integrated and ensure that all licensees have an equal and meaningful opportunity to participate in the market. These regulations will be closely scrutinized by those looking to enter Virginia’s regulated market once they are proposed. Qualifying small businesses could benefit substantially from the economic advantages commensurate with being vertically integrated, assuming they have the access to the capital needed to achieve integration and operate successfully. The second exception allows permitted pharmaceutical processors and registered industrial hemp processors to hold multiple licenses if they pay $1 million to the Board (to be allocated to job training, the equity loan fund or equity reinvestment fund) and submit a diversity, equity and inclusion plan for approval and implementation. Consequently, Virginia is attempting to fund, in part, its ambitious social equity programs by monetizing the opportunity for these processors to participate vertically in the adult use market.

Those devilish details of how this market will function, and how onerous compliance obligations will be, will emanate from those yet to be proposed regulations covering many areas and subject matters including:

• Outdoor cultivation by cultivation facilities;
• Security requirements;
• Sanitary standards;
• A testing program;
• An application process;
• Packaging and labeling requirements;
• Maximum THC level for retail products (not to exceed 5 mg per serving or 50 mg per package for edible products);
• Record retention requirements;
• Criteria for evaluating social equity license applications based on certain ownership standards;
• Licensing preferences for qualified social equity applicants;
• Low interest loan program standards;
• Personal cultivation guidelines; and
• Outdoor advertising restrictions.

Needless to say, the CCA Board has a lot work ahead in order to issue reasonable regulations that will carry out the dictates in the Act and encourage the development of a well-functioning marketplace delivering meaningful social equity opportunities.

Much work needs to be done before July 1, 2024 to prepare for its debutThe application process for the five categories of licenses will be developed by the Board, along with application fee and annual license fee amounts. It is not clear how substantial these fees will be and what effect they will have on the ability of less-well-capitalized companies and individuals to compete in the market. The Act dictates that licenses are deemed nontransferable from person to person or location to location. However, it is not entirely clear that changes in ownership will be prohibited. The Act contemplates that changes in ownership will be permitted, at least as to retail store licensees, through a reapplication process. Perhaps the forthcoming regulations will add clarity to the transferability of licenses and address the use of management services agreements as a potential workaround to the limitations in license ownership.

Certain requirements particular to certain license-types are worthy of highlighting. For example, there are two classes of cultivation licenses. Class A cultivation licenses authorize cultivation of a certain number of plants within a certain number of square feet to be determined by the Board. Interestingly, Class B licenses are for cultivation of low total THC (no more than 1%) cannabis. Several requirements specific to retail stores are noteworthy. Stores cannot exceed 1,500 square feet, or make sales through drive-through windows, internet-based sales platforms or delivery services. Prohibitive local ordinances are not allowed; however, localities can petition for a referendum on the question of whether retail stores should be prohibited in their locality. Retail stores are allowed to sell immature plants and seek to support the home growers, an allowance that is fairly unique among the existing legal adult-use states.

Taxing Cannabis Sales

Given the perception that regulated cannabis markets add to state coffers, it is little surprise that Virginia’s retail market will be subject to significant taxes. The taxing system is straightforward and not complicated by a taxing regime related to product weight or THC content, for example. There is a 21% tax on retail sales by stores, in addition to the current sales tax rates. In addition, localities may, by ordinance, impose a 3% tax on retail sales. These taxes could result in a retail tax of approximately 30%.

Changes to Criminal Laws

Changes to the criminality of cannabis will have long lasting effects for many Virginians. These changes include:

• Fines of no more than $25 and participation in substance abuse or education programs for illegal purchases by juveniles or persons 18 years or older;
• Prohibition of warrantless searches based solely on the odor of cannabis;
• Automatic expungement of records for certain former cannabis offenses;
• Prohibition of “gifting” cannabis in exchange for nominal purchases of some other product;
• Prohibition of consuming cannabis or cannabis products in public; and
• Prohibition of consumption by drivers or passengers in a motor vehicle being driven, with consumption being presumed if cannabis in the passenger compartment is not in the original sealed manufacturer’s container.

These changes, and others, represent a balancing of public safety with lessons learned from the effects of the war on drugs.

Potpourri

The Act contains myriad other noteworthy provisions. For example, the Board must develop, implement and maintain a seed-to-sale tracking system for the industry. Plants being grown at home must be tagged with the grower’s name and driver’s license or state ID number. Licenses may be stripped from businesses that do not remain neutral while workers attempt to unionize. However, this provision will not become effective unless approved again by the legislature next year. Banks and credit unions are protected under state law for providing financial services to licensed businesses or for investing any income derived from the providing of such services. This provision is intended to address the lack of access to banking for cannabis businesses due to the federal illegality of cannabis by removing any perceived state law barriers for banks and credit unions to do business with licensed cannabis companies.

The adult use cannabis industry is coming to Virginia. Much work needs to be done before July 1, 2024 to prepare for its debut. However, the criminal justice reforms and commitment to repairing harms related to past prohibition of cannabis are soon to be a present-day reality. Virginia is the first Southern state to take the path towards legal adult use cannabis. It is unlikely to be the last.

A unionization effort filed for 17 employees at the Curaleaf medical dispensary in Hanover, Mass., went all the way to Washington, D.C., before a final decision on the results of a mail-in election was made earlier this month. The majority of ballots had been challenged, some of which remained sealed in the final vote count.

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328, which represents more than 11,000 workers in a range of industries throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, filed for the Curaleaf Hanover union election April 20, 2020—during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ballots went out to the Hanover team in May, and the original vote count was June 26. That vote came back 5-2 in favor of joining the Local 328, excluding 10 challenged ballots, which were determinative, meaning there were more challenged votes than the difference between yeses and noes.

“There was some fighting back and forth—because it was during COVID—about people that they were bringing in from other areas and having them work there,” UFCW Local 328 President Tim Melia said. “But they weren’t part of the Hanover group. The company was arguing that they should be part of the unit and should be able to vote on the contract. And we were arguing back the other way. So, there were some charges about who was eligible and who wasn’t when the vote came.” 

The challenged ballots took nearly 10 months to sort out. A federal investigation and hearing by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) examined the circumstances of the challenged ballots, which stemmed from which workers were employed at the Hanover location before government shutdowns and which workers were not. The Boston regional office of the NLRB determined that six of the 10 challenged ballots should not be counted. Curaleaf appealed that decision to the NLRB in Washington, D.C., where the labor board declined to hear the case, essentially upholding the ruling of the regional director in Boston.

The final vote was 8-3 in favor of the Curaleaf Hanover workers unionizing, which became official on April 9, 2021, roughly a year after the workers’ campaign was organized.

Local 328 organizers first connected with dispensary workers at Curaleaf Hanover in March 2020, a month before filing the unionization vote and before pandemic-related government shutdowns were enacted. At the time in Massachusetts, the shutdowns affected adult-use dispensaries while medical dispensaries like Curaleaf Hanover were deemed essential. 

“What ended up happening was that the company had sent over some workers from different locations because this is a purely medicinal facility [in Hanover] and the [adult-use] locations for Curaleaf had closed,” Local 328 Director of Organizing Sam Marvin said. “So, they had temporarily sent some workers from kind of far away to work at the medicinal location that was still open. And, so, essentially that made up some of the challenged votes.”

Curaleaf did not confirm the pre-shutdown whereabouts of its workers who represented the six challenged ballots that remained sealed, but the NLRB regional director in Boston determined those six should not be counted as part of the Hanover group. Had the six Hanover ballots that remained sealed all been no votes, then, theoretically, the union organization effort would have failed, 9-8.

A spokesperson from Curaleaf said the vote at the company’s Hanover dispensary was a “secret ballot election” but recognized that the final count was in fact in favor of union representation by the Local 328 for purposes of collective bargaining.

“While we’re disappointed with this outcome, because we believe team members are best served dealing directly with our management team, we respect the collective voice of our Hanover team members at the time and will seek to have a collaborative working relationship with the UFCW,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to prioritize creating a positive, supportive and inclusive work environment for all team members and provide our patients and customers with the excellent service they expect and deserve from Curaleaf.”

Going Beyond Wages and Benefits

When Cannabis Business Times reached out to Curaleaf following the final vote and asked in what ways the company prioritizes taking care of its employees and meeting their needs, the spokesperson said, “We welcome everyone to join our employee resource groups focused on fostering inclusion.” The company identified specific groups that have been developed to meet this priority:

• Black, Indigenous and People of Color (Curaleaf in Color)
• WCC (Women’s Cannabis Collective) 
• PRIDE/QUSH (Queer-Centered Unity and Service Huddle)
• Working Parents (FamiLeaf)
• Community and Volunteerism (Curaleaf Cares) 

Curaleaf also hosts panel discussions and support events for all team members: 

• Heritage Lunch-in (food dishes that represent our heritage—celebrating diversity) 
• “Black in Cannabis” panel discussion (education and awareness of the war on drugs and historical community impact of Black people in cannabis) 
• “AAPI in Cannabis” panel discussion (education and awareness of Asian American Pacific Islander communities in cannabis)
• Holding Space and communicating from the C-suite (for times of grief and support—scheduled often and as needed when team members request and/or crisis happen. E.g., George Floyd murder and trial, mass shootings, Asian hate crimes, etc.)
• “Help a Family” (sponsoring Curaleaf team members who are in additional financial need during the holiday season)
• Virtual yoga and meditation classes 

“Our team members are the heart and soul of our company,” the spokesperson said. “Their dedication and commitment to serving our patients and customers is exemplified by their incredible efforts during this challenging time as our country deals with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UFCW’s Push to Unionize Cannabis Workers

First organized by meat cutters and butchers in 1937, the Local 328 now represents workers in myriad industries, including retail food, institutional food, health care, banking, transportation, manufacturing, barbers, cosmetologists and now cannabis. But the push to unionize the cannabis space is just starting to unfold, both in the Local 328’s region and across the nation. Of the 11,000-plus workers represented by the Local 328, fewer than 100 are from the cannabis space. The union is working to increase that representation.

Earlier this month, dispensary workers at Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in Portsmouth, R.I., unionized by a 21-1 vote to join the Local 328. The organized effort includes budtenders, keyholders, online team members and delivery associates.

Local 328 now represents workers from four cannabis businesses, including the Ocean State Cultivation Center (OSCC) in Warwick, R.I., where workers officially became the state’s first unionized cannabis organization with a negotiated contract in October 2020. OSCC provides cannabis products to compassion centers operating in Portsmouth, Providence and Warwick that serve more than 18,000 cannabis patients in Rhode Island’s medical program.

Perfect Union, a vertically integrated operator and parent company of OSCC, with dispensaries in California, New Mexico and Rhode Island, began paying all employees an additional $2.50 per hour on March 16, 2020—at the onset of COVID-19 and while negotiations were still taking place with UFCW. The bonus pay extended to more than 200 employees, including those working in cultivation, distribution, manufacturing and retail.

“Taking care of our employees is one of our highest priorities,” Perfect Union CEO David Spradlin said in a Local 328 release. “We are pleased to be partnering with the UFCW Local 328 and helping to set a standard for workers in Rhode Island’s cannabis industry. Our partnership ensures our employees will be treated fairly and equitably, allowing us to better serve the community around us.”

The two parties agreed to a labor peace agreement in late 2019, which committed them to open, transparent dialogue throughout the negotiation process, Marvin said. A labor peace agreement is an arrangement between a union and an employer under which one or both sides agree to waive certain rights under federal law with regard to union organization and related activity. Such an agreement is more likely to lead to unionization of a workplace, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The finalized contract guarantees a living wage, comprehensive benefits, opportunities for career advancement and safe working conditions for OSCC employees, according to a Local 328 press release.

“The UFCW has been so important in turning these jobs into careers,” said Matthew Baryshyan, who works in cultivation at OSCC. “As this industry grows, so does our need to make sure our best interests are taken into consideration. We now have better wages, a pension plan, full benefits, vacation time, and the list goes on. The UFCW is making sure there is a future in cannabis, and it’s a bright one.”

Does Company Size Matter?

In addition, Local 328 representatives are currently negotiating a contract for the cannabis workers at a Cresco Labs cultivation and processing facility in Fall River, Mass. A multistate operator headquartered in Chicago, Cresco also operates one of its Sunnyside dispensaries in Fall River, after the company closed on its acquisition of Hope Heal Health Inc. in February 2020.

Earlier this year, more than 180 UFCW Local 881 members who work at Cresco Labs in Joliet, Ill., ratified a union contract that raised wages and improved benefits.

While Cresco Labs and Curaleaf are two of the biggest cannabis companies in the world, Marvin said workers throughout the industry essentially want the same thing—stability.

“Sometimes the smaller, medium-size companies will sell to a larger company,” he said. “So that’s why that’s one of the big issues for even the smaller, medium [companies] is to have some sense of protection and security in case that were to happen. They can still protect their unions, still protect their benefits and sit at the table with a new employer.”

As the biggest companies continue to grow in a sector with increasing revenues, workers of those companies want to ensure they are rewarded “in the industry where they’re creating these profits through their work,” Marvin said. This can take the shape of pay increases, ownership stakes or more inclusive workspaces.

Unionization efforts at Curaleaf Hanover and the Cresco Labs facility in Fall River come as the Massachusetts cannabis industry generated roughly $696 million in sales in 2020—a 56.4% increase from 2019, according to adult-use sales and production data from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission.

Since the adult-use system launched more than two years ago, Massachusetts cannabis sales have exceeded more than $1.5 billion overall. Cannabis sales in 2021 have already logged roughly $370 million through April, according to the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system.

Worker-Management Relations

Big or small, the Local 328 is pushing to extend its representation in the cannabis space. Sometimes organization efforts are met with cordial negotiations, and other times they are not, Marvin said.

As other state legislatures continue to debate and pass adult-use cannabis measures, lawmakers are including provisions in their bills that aim to deter anti-union practices on the part of cannabis business owners. For example, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation last week that gives the state’s incoming Cannabis Control Authority the power to strip licenses from any cannabis business that doesn’t remain neutral while its workers attempt to unionize.

Unionization can be good for both employers and employees, Marvin said. A key benefit made possible through unionization is that employers who may have a tough time entering into industry pension funds could gain access through labor unions that represent their workers, Marvin said.

“For example, we have UFCW industry pension funds that we can now negotiate these employers into because they’re union,” he said. “And we also have access to our industry health and welfare funds as well. So, maybe for some employers that cost can be greater if they’re doing it alone.”

While workers can gain health care and a secure retirement through unionization—which is not to say they can’t gain those benefits without a union—improving their relations with management can translate to the customer experience and reduce turnover, Marvin said.

“We don’t want to see an industry that has a high turnover where patients and customers are going in and seeing a new face every day,” he said. “We want to see that these are good jobs, that workers can take care of their families and their patients and customers at the same time. And I think ultimately that’s very beneficial for the consumer—that they can cultivate that relationship with employees and expect to see them the week after, and the week after that.”

Continuing the Push

Although Local 328 representatives have a trio of moving parts in the cannabis space—including their current negotiation with Cresco Labs and upcoming negotiation efforts with Curaleaf and Greenleaf—Marvin and Melia said the budding sector is ripe for additional unionization. Union negotiations are often centered on wages, hours, benefits and working conditions, while others choose to organize in order to gain dignity and respect on the job, Melia said.

Specifically for workers in medical dispensaries, who were deemed essential in many states as they worked on the front lines during the pandemic, having personal protective equipment (PPE), social-distancing protocols and proper cleaning measures in place were important safety standards, Marvin said. In general, working during a pandemic was a tipping point for many workers in a variety of sectors to organize, he said.

Going hand-in-hand with job security, workers want to make sure they are no longer at-will employees, Marvin said. In U.S. labor law, at-will employment is an employer’s ability to dismiss an employee for any reason, and without warning, as long as the reason is not illegal.

“I think that the organizing that workers are doing now is essentially framing how these jobs are going to be not only today and tomorrow, but for years down the road,” he said. “So, again, we want to make sure these are good jobs and we’re going to continue to communicate and partner with cannabis workers.”

As the cannabis industry — now estimated to be worth more than USD 200 billion — continues to erupt around the world, Europe is about to take off.

This draws a parallel with the watershed legislative events of November 2012, when Colorado Amendment 64 and Washington Initiative 502 were implemented. These two bills kicked off a wave of medical and adult use acceptance in the United States. Europe’s medical referendums which started in 2017-2018 and the recent December 2020 United Nations acceptance of medical attributes of cannabis will do the same in that continental marketplace. Europe is following science and studying popular opinion about cannabis, just like the United States nearly a decade ago.

In many ways, the American “medical” market has been a political ploy, while the European market is truly medical in every way. Distribution through pharmacies and mainstream channels is the wave of the future. This method of distribution will both increase access and taxable bases quicker than the U.S. “medical” dispensary model. People who truly need cannabis should not be hindered by any rules or regulations to get the medicine, and the U.N. has paved the way for access while the U.S. still awaits rescheduling.

The road to medical cannabis in Europe is more stringent than that of the U.S. and Canada. This is because most European markets have strict medical standards and medicines must be produced in European Union Good Manufacturing Practices (EU GMP) certified pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. This is the same standard that all medical Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) producers are held to.

Both Canadian companies, who have just launched extraction with Canada’s “Cannabis 2.0”, and American manufacturers alike are unfamiliar with pharmaceutical API production. Some argue that food-grade GMP standards are the most similar to already-existing systems in the U.S. and Canada. However, the meaning of “medical” is clear in Europe — it means medical. Improving access for patients to products will be the central challenge for Europe over the next few years as patient growth increases.

Europe is also embracing its potential adult use markets. First came Denmark, then Luxembourg, and now the Netherlands are all beginning to engage with the question of adult use cannabis legalization. We expect Portugal will soon join this list. After all, in a post-coronavirus world, every country will be looking for a means to grapple with a devastated economy and to boost employment to widen its taxable base.

The United States was supposedly founded by Puritans escaping gregarious Europeans. Now it’s likely America will legalize cannabis within the year and Europeans will be left asking, “Why them and not us?” And it will become harder to explain why such potential for growth in employment and increased tax revenue isn’t being taken advantage of as Europe begins to emerge from lockdown. It would be shrewd to expect a wave of European adult use kick-offs in 2022.

It is clear that 2021 is setting a blistering economic pace: from mergers and acquisitions to monster capital raises, to increased debt raises to the hot special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) London Stock Exchange (LSE) up listings and initial public offering (IPO) fever. This year will be a cannabis-fueled explosion that Europe will not be able to ignore. With Canada, the U.S. and Mexico all likely to legalize cannabis in the near future, how long will it be before South and Central America follows suit? And then, how long for this wave to reach Europe?

The real answer is, it’s already here. Early adopters of cannabis overbuilt as the Canadians were given more money than they deserved, while the U.S. market was largely fueled by private equity and proved that it could be the biggest and best-run model. Europe will follow its own path by acknowledging the failures and successes of these markets, blending them to form its own unique European model.

The American dispensary will eventually pop up in Europe in a form similar to the current social clubs of Barcelona and coffee shops of Amsterdam. Possibly specialized pharmacies will carry more cannabis products, but it’s too early to call — countries are only just beginning to figure out how cannabis rules might be shaped to fit their needs and values.

There are greater issues people are dealing with in the age of COVID-19, but that will change. Economic recovery, the need to provide medicine more quickly and affordably, social reform, green projects and many more pressing issues will become thematic of a post-COVID world; a set of themes for which a cannabis-shaped solution checks many of the necessary boxes.

There is a certain misrepresentation of cannabis as a panacea, able to cure every medical ailment and remedy every social problem if only it were legalized more broadly. While cannabis certainly is not a cure-all, it can fix many issues facing governments today. People were grateful for cannabis during these troubled times with cannabis stockpiling and usage through the roof in the early stages of the pandemic. As a result, 2021 has the potential to shatter old establishment perceptions as more consumers speak out.

Now, it is only a question of how the individual and collective European nations choose to regulate expansion across the continent. And the power to create a truly world-beating cannabis model is in their hands; without the international market differences and troubles that plague the North American sector, there will be virtually no limits to cannabis expansion throughout Europe if those in charge believe it to be so.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam detoured his signing of adult-use cannabis legislation, but an amendment package decided by a tiebreaker cleared a path for the stroke of his pen on Wednesday.

The state’s legislative chambers overcame differences to pass a compromise bill on Feb. 27, after each body passed different measures—Senate Bill 1406 and House Bill 2312—to legalize cannabis possession, personal cultivation and retail sales for adults 21 years and older.

The problem? Those legalization efforts, including possession laws, would not have gone into full effect until Jan. 1, 2024. Following the legislature’s passage, Jenn Michelle Pedini, Virginia’s executive director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said that timeline wasn’t good enough and she hoped to continue working to accelerate specific facets of legalization. Northam agreed and pushed to expedite certain components of the legislature’s bill. 

On April 7, the General Assembly approved the Democratic governor’s amendment package by way of Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax casting the deciding vote in a split Senate. As a result, adults 21 years and older will be allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis and grow up to four plants per household starting July 1, 2021—speeding up the timeline 2 1/2 years.

“As of July 1, 2021—who’s counting, but 71 days from now—Virginia will no longer police adults for possessing small amounts of marijuana,” Northam said during his signing ceremony Wednesday. “What this really means is people will no longer be arrested or face penalties for simple possession that follow them and affect their lives. We know that marijuana laws in Virginia and throughout this country have been disproportionately enforced against communities of color and low-income Virginians.”

According to Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC)—the state’s non-partisan research arm—the average arrest rate of Black Virginians for marijuana possession was 3.5 times higher than the arrest rate for white individuals from 2010-2019, and their conviction rate was 3.9 times higher than white individuals.

The social equity implications of ending prohibition were mentioned by everyone who spoke during the governor’s signing ceremony, including Democratic Sens. Louise Lucas and Adam Ebbin, who were primary sponsors of S.B. 1406, Democratic Delegate Charniele Herring, who sponsored H.B. 2312, and Democratic House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn.

Representing the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) as the governor’s lead deputy chief diversity officer, Alaysia Black Hackett said, “This law establishes social equity as a pillar and major priority. Specifically, as mentioned before, it focuses on health equity, economic equity and equity in criminal justice. I want to especially highlight that it was critical for there to be equitable business licensing, especially for those who have been in the past criminalized and disenfranchised by marijuana laws.

“Secondly, the social equity reinvestment fund, an important structure in this legislation, provides resources that will elevate and uplift those persons, neighborhoods, communities and families most negatively impacted by the disparate enforcement of marijuana laws. This bill makes Virginia a national leader as we lean into many uncomfortable truths about the legalization of marijuana and the true meaning of being many Virginians but one commonwealth.”

Also included in Northam’s amendments, new language gives the state’s incoming Cannabis Control Authority the power to strip licenses from any cannabis business that doesn’t remain neutral while its workers attempt to unionize, a provision that drew partisanship on the opposite side of the aisle in the General Assembly.

But adult-use legalization in Virginia was partisan to begin with—neither the House bill nor the Senate bill attracted any Republicans sponsors or co-sponsors. That did not deter Democrats from their efforts. When Democrats flipped both chambers in 2019, they gained control of both the legislature and governor’s office for the first time in more than two decades.

“This is another example of Democrats, yes Democrats, listening to Virginians and taking action on the will of the people,” Northam said, “from expanding health care to over 500,000 people, to commonsense gun legislation, criminal justice and police reform, ending the death penalty in Virginia, fairer voting laws, moving forward clean energy, giving our teachers and state employees a much-deserved raise, and now legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in Virginia. On these and many other initiatives, Democrats have delivered.”

Statewide polling data released Feb. 2, 2021, by Christopher Newport University’s Watson Center for Civic Leadership showed that 68% of registered voters in Virginia, including majorities of Democrats and Republicans, support adult-use cannabis legalization. That mirrored the 68% of Americans who support legalization, according to a November 2020 Gallup poll.

According to JLARC, a fully legal cannabis industry in Virginia will create more than 11,000 jobs in sectors ranging from farming to retail. The Cannabis Control Authority, which the governor’s signed legislation aims to establish by July 2021, will oversee regulations and licensing. The five-member board of directors will institute the number of licensees, which cannot exceed 400 retailers, 25 wholesalers, 450 cultivators and 60 product manufacturers.

Many of the provisions in the roughly 300-page bill are subject to a reenactment, meaning a second review and vote by members of the General Assembly in 2022. But other provisions, such as simple possession and home grows, require no further action.

“Over the past two months, I have answered more times than I can count, ‘How did Virginia just legalize cannabis?’” said Pedini, who also serves as NORML’s development director. She gave credit to the Democratic leaders at the governor’s signing ceremony and to Virginians who supported the effort to become the first state in the South to legalize cannabis.

“Today and together, we celebrate an extraordinary victory for cannabis justice in the commonwealth,” she said. “I’ve also mentioned countless times how Virginia is the single most prepared state to ever undertake a legalization effort. The study and the workgroup both prioritized legalization that ensures equity, consumer safety and restorative justice. This is why the legislation succeeded, and on its first attempt.”

A unionization effort filed for 17 employees at the Curaleaf medical dispensary in Hanover, Mass., went all the way to Washington, D.C., before a final decision on the results of a mail-in election was made earlier this month. The majority of ballots had been challenged, some of which remained sealed in the final vote count.

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328, which represents more than 11,000 workers in a range of industries throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, filed for the Curaleaf Hanover union election April 20, 2020—during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ballots went out to the Hanover team in May, and the original vote count was June 26. That vote came back 5-2 in favor of joining the Local 328, excluding 10 challenged ballots, which were determinative, meaning there were more challenged votes than the difference between yeses and noes.

“There was some fighting back and forth—because it was during COVID—about people that they were bringing in from other areas and having them work there,” UFCW Local 328 President Tim Melia said. “But they weren’t part of the Hanover group. The company was arguing that they should be part of the unit and should be able to vote on the contract. And we were arguing back the other way. So, there were some charges about who was eligible and who wasn’t when the vote came.” 

The challenged ballots took nearly 10 months to sort out. A federal investigation and hearing by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) examined the circumstances of the challenged ballots, which stemmed from which workers were employed at the Hanover location before government shutdowns and which workers were not. The Boston regional office of the NLRB determined that six of the 10 challenged ballots should not be counted. Curaleaf appealed that decision to the NLRB in Washington, D.C., where the labor board declined to hear the case, essentially upholding the ruling of the regional director in Boston.

The final vote was 8-3 in favor of the Curaleaf Hanover workers unionizing, which became official on April 9, 2021, roughly a year after the workers’ campaign was organized.

Local 328 organizers first connected with dispensary workers at Curaleaf Hanover in March 2020, a month before filing the unionization vote and before pandemic-related government shutdowns were enacted. At the time in Massachusetts, the shutdowns affected adult-use dispensaries while medical dispensaries like Curaleaf Hanover were deemed essential. 

“What ended up happening was that the company had sent over some workers from different locations because this is a purely medicinal facility [in Hanover] and the [adult-use] locations for Curaleaf had closed,” Local 328 Director of Organizing Sam Marvin said. “So, they had temporarily sent some workers from kind of far away to work at the medicinal location that was still open. And, so, essentially that made up some of the challenged votes.”

Curaleaf did not confirm the pre-shutdown whereabouts of its workers who represented the six challenged ballots that remained sealed, but the NLRB regional director in Boston determined those six should not be counted as part of the Hanover group. Had the six Hanover ballots that remained sealed all been no votes, then, theoretically, the union organization effort would have failed, 9-8.

A spokesperson from Curaleaf said the vote at the company’s Hanover dispensary was a “secret ballot election” but recognized that the final count was in fact in favor of union representation by the Local 328 for purposes of collective bargaining.

“While we’re disappointed with this outcome, because we believe team members are best served dealing directly with our management team, we respect the collective voice of our Hanover team members at the time and will seek to have a collaborative working relationship with the UFCW,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to prioritize creating a positive, supportive and inclusive work environment for all team members and provide our patients and customers with the excellent service they expect and deserve from Curaleaf.”

Going Beyond Wages and Benefits

When Cannabis Business Times reached out to Curaleaf following the final vote and asked in what ways the company prioritizes taking care of its employees and meeting their needs, the spokesperson said, “We welcome everyone to join our employee resource groups focused on fostering inclusion.” The company identified specific groups that have been developed to meet this priority:

• Black, Indigenous and People of Color (Curaleaf in Color)
• WCC (Women’s Cannabis Collective) 
• PRIDE/QUSH (Queer-Centered Unity and Service Huddle)
• Working Parents (FamiLeaf)
• Community and Volunteerism (Curaleaf Cares) 

Curaleaf also hosts panel discussions and support events for all team members: 

• Heritage Lunch-in (food dishes that represent our heritage—celebrating diversity) 
• “Black in Cannabis” panel discussion (education and awareness of the war on drugs and historical community impact of Black people in cannabis) 
• “AAPI in Cannabis” panel discussion (education and awareness of Asian American Pacific Islander communities in cannabis)
• Holding Space and communicating from the C-suite (for times of grief and support—scheduled often and as needed when team members request and/or crisis happen. E.g., George Floyd murder and trial, mass shootings, Asian hate crimes, etc.)
• “Help a Family” (sponsoring Curaleaf team members who are in additional financial need during the holiday season)
• Virtual yoga and meditation classes 

“Our team members are the heart and soul of our company,” the spokesperson said. “Their dedication and commitment to serving our patients and customers is exemplified by their incredible efforts during this challenging time as our country deals with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UFCW’s Push to Unionize Cannabis Workers

First organized by meat cutters and butchers in 1937, the Local 328 now represents workers in myriad industries, including retail food, institutional food, health care, banking, transportation, manufacturing, barbers, cosmetologists and now cannabis. But the push to unionize the cannabis space is just starting to unfold, both in the Local 328’s region and across the nation. Of the 11,000-plus workers represented by the Local 328, fewer than 100 are from the cannabis space. The union is working to increase that representation.

Earlier this month, dispensary workers at Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in Portsmouth, R.I., unionized by a 21-1 vote to join the Local 328. The organized effort includes budtenders, keyholders, online team members and delivery associates.

Local 328 now represents workers from four cannabis businesses, including the Ocean State Cultivation Center (OSCC) in Warwick, R.I., where workers officially became the state’s first unionized cannabis organization with a negotiated contract in October 2020. OSCC provides cannabis products to compassion centers operating in Portsmouth, Providence and Warwick that serve more than 18,000 cannabis patients in Rhode Island’s medical program.

Perfect Union, a vertically integrated operator and parent company of OSCC, with dispensaries in California, New Mexico and Rhode Island, began paying all employees an additional $2.50 per hour on March 16, 2020—at the onset of COVID-19 and while negotiations were still taking place with UFCW. The bonus pay extended to more than 200 employees, including those working in cultivation, distribution, manufacturing and retail.

“Taking care of our employees is one of our highest priorities,” Perfect Union CEO David Spradlin said in a Local 328 release. “We are pleased to be partnering with the UFCW Local 328 and helping to set a standard for workers in Rhode Island’s cannabis industry. Our partnership ensures our employees will be treated fairly and equitably, allowing us to better serve the community around us.”

The two parties agreed to a labor peace agreement in late 2019, which committed them to open, transparent dialogue throughout the negotiation process, Marvin said. A labor peace agreement is an arrangement between a union and an employer under which one or both sides agree to waive certain rights under federal law with regard to union organization and related activity. Such an agreement is more likely to lead to unionization of a workplace, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The finalized contract guarantees a living wage, comprehensive benefits, opportunities for career advancement and safe working conditions for OSCC employees, according to a Local 328 press release.

“The UFCW has been so important in turning these jobs into careers,” said Matthew Baryshyan, who works in cultivation at OSCC. “As this industry grows, so does our need to make sure our best interests are taken into consideration. We now have better wages, a pension plan, full benefits, vacation time, and the list goes on. The UFCW is making sure there is a future in cannabis, and it’s a bright one.”

Does Company Size Matter?

In addition, Local 328 representatives are currently negotiating a contract for the cannabis workers at a Cresco Labs cultivation and processing facility in Fall River, Mass. A multistate operator headquartered in Chicago, Cresco also operates one of its Sunnyside dispensaries in Fall River, after the company closed on its acquisition of Hope Heal Health Inc. in February 2020.

Earlier this year, more than 180 UFCW Local 881 members who work at Cresco Labs in Joliet, Ill., ratified a union contract that raised wages and improved benefits.

While Cresco Labs and Curaleaf are two of the biggest cannabis companies in the world, Marvin said workers throughout the industry essentially want the same thing—stability.

“Sometimes the smaller, medium-size companies will sell to a larger company,” he said. “So that’s why that’s one of the big issues for even the smaller, medium [companies] is to have some sense of protection and security in case that were to happen. They can still protect their unions, still protect their benefits and sit at the table with a new employer.”

As the biggest companies continue to grow in a sector with increasing revenues, workers of those companies want to ensure they are rewarded “in the industry where they’re creating these profits through their work,” Marvin said. This can take the shape of pay increases, ownership stakes or more inclusive workspaces.

Unionization efforts at Curaleaf Hanover and the Cresco Labs facility in Fall River come as the Massachusetts cannabis industry generated roughly $696 million in sales in 2020—a 56.4% increase from 2019, according to adult-use sales and production data from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission.

Since the adult-use system launched more than two years ago, Massachusetts cannabis sales have exceeded more than $1.5 billion overall. Cannabis sales in 2021 have already logged roughly $370 million through April, according to the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system.

Worker-Management Relations

Big or small, the Local 328 is pushing to extend its representation in the cannabis space. Sometimes organization efforts are met with cordial negotiations, and other times they are not, Marvin said.

As other state legislatures continue to debate and pass adult-use cannabis measures, lawmakers are including provisions in their bills that aim to deter anti-union practices on the part of cannabis business owners. For example, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation last week that gives the state’s incoming Cannabis Control Authority the power to strip licenses from any cannabis business that doesn’t remain neutral while its workers attempt to unionize.

Unionization can be good for both employers and employees, Marvin said. A key benefit made possible through unionization is that employers who may have a tough time entering into industry pension funds could gain access through labor unions that represent their workers, Marvin said.

“For example, we have a [United Steelworkers] industry pension fund that we can now negotiate these employers into because they’re union,” he said. “And we also have access to our industry health and welfare funds as well. So, maybe for some employers that cost can be greater if they’re doing it alone.”

While workers can gain health care and a secure retirement through unionization—which is not to say they can’t gain those benefits without a union—improving their relations with management can translate to the customer experience and reduce turnover, Marvin said.

“We don’t want to see an industry that has a high turnover where patients and customers are going in and seeing a new face every day,” he said. “We want to see that these are good jobs, that workers can take care of their families and their patients and customers at the same time. And I think ultimately that’s very beneficial for the consumer—that they can cultivate that relationship with employees and expect to see them the week after, and the week after that.”

Continuing the Push

Although Local 328 representatives have a trio of moving parts in the cannabis space—including their current negotiation with Cresco Labs and upcoming negotiation efforts with Curaleaf and Greenleaf—Marvin and Melia said the budding sector is ripe for additional unionization. Union negotiations are often centered on wages, hours, benefits and working conditions, while others choose to organize in order to gain dignity and respect on the job, Melia said.

Specifically for workers in medical dispensaries, who were deemed essential in many states as they worked on the front lines during the pandemic, having personal protective equipment (PPE), social-distancing protocols and proper cleaning measures in place were important safety standards, Marvin said. In general, working during a pandemic was a tipping point for many workers in a variety of sectors to organize, he said.

Going hand-in-hand with job security, workers want to make sure they are no longer at-will employees, Marvin said. In U.S. labor law, at-will employment is an employer’s ability to dismiss an employee for any reason, and without warning, as long as the reason is not illegal.

“I think that the organizing that workers are doing now is essentially framing how these jobs are going to be not only today and tomorrow, but for years down the road,” he said. “So, again, we want to make sure these are good jobs and we’re going to continue to communicate and partner with cannabis workers.”