UFCW Local 27 filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board on May 1 against The Apothecarium Dispensary in Salisbury, Md., and parent company TerrAscend Corp.
The charges stem from an incident in which an assistant general manager removed union flyers from a worker bulletin board, materials that are protected under federal law. Employees have a legally guaranteed right to organize, communicate and distribute union information in designated workplace areas. Interfering with those rights is a direct violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
Such actions may result in federal consequences, including remedies imposed by the National Labor Relations Board.
Local 27 has represented the workers at The Apothecarium in Salisbury since the fall of 2024. Since organizing, workers have been working toward securing a first union contract that ensures fair wages, workplace protections, and the dignity and respect every worker deserves.
Rather than bargaining in good faith, TerrAscend has spent countless thousands of dollars on a professional union-busting law firm in an effort to delay and deny these workers a fair contract. These are resources that could have been used instead to improve wages, benefits and working conditions for the workers.
The company's financial trajectory underscores its misplaced priorities. TerrAscend's stock, once trading above $15 per share, now sits at approximately $0.69 per share and dropped as low as around $0.30 earlier this year. Despite this decline, the company continues to invest heavily in opposing its workforce instead of working collaboratively toward a fair agreement.
Local 27 remains positive about the prospects of completing bargaining with the company in the coming weeks and securing a fair first contract for workers at the Salisbury location.
"Federal law is federal law," Local 27 President Jason Chorpenning said. "Workers have the right to organize without interference, intimidation or retaliation. These workers have stood together, exercised their rights, and are simply asking for a fair contract and basic respect. We will not tolerate violations of those rights."
Local 27 emphasized that it will continue to aggressively defend the rights of its members and ensure that employers are held accountable under federal labor law.
For more information:
UFCW
www.ufcw.org
