This summer saw encouraging steps forward in the drive to unionize the fast-growing cannabis industry.
Workers at Cultivate Holdings‘ grow facility and retail outlet in the central Massachusetts town of Leicester voted to affiliate with Local 1445 of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). The grow facility was one of the first state-legal adult-use dispensaries on the East Coast.
“This is not just a victory for cannabis workers at Cultivate, but for all cannabis workers. We’ve set a precedent by working collectively that enables us not only to survive but to thrive,” Craig Chaplin, a Cultivate employee, told MassLive.com on Aug. 11.
The UFCW is at the forefront of the unionization effort in the industry and has launched a Cannabis Workers Rising campaign. The UFCW, which calls itself the United States’ largest private-sector union, represents 1.3 million people who work in supermarkets, meatpacking plants, food-processing facilities—and cannabis dispensaries, mostly on the West Coast.
Read more at cannabisnow.com