Oregon voters will get to answer a pretty narrow question in November: Should workers in Oregon's struggling cannabis industry be allowed to unionize?
The Legislature considered but did not pass a bill on the issue last year. When the bill died, its leading advocate, the labor union United Food & Commercial Workers, launched a recall campaign against state Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene), the chair of the House Business and Labor Committee, where the bill died. Holvey, a longtime member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and the longest-serving Democrat in the House, beat the recall attempt by a 90% to 10% vote—and subsequently announced he would retire.
Holvey let House Bill 3183 die, he said, because the Legislative Counsel's Office said it probably violated federal labor laws.
UFCW disagreed with that interpretation and crafted a ballot initiative that would accomplish its goal. It spent $2.24 million on a signature gathering campaign, records show, and on Aug. 1, the Secretary of State's Office certified the signatures the union submitted. It will appear on the ballot as Measure 119 in November. The union says Oregon cannabis workers currently have fewer protections than their peers in other states.
Read more at wweek.com