Posts tagged Marijuana
Alleged fake marijuana unions are expanding foothold across United States
November 2, 2023 // So far, Ascend is the only cannabis business in New Jersey organized by CEED, which reported no members at all in federally mandated filings with the U.S. Department of Labor. CEED claims to be an affiliate of a larger umbrella organization called the International Union of Journeymen and Allied Trades (IUJAT). IUJAT is not a member of the New York City Labor Council, a council spokesperson told MJBizDaily. And at least two tri-state area labor organizations, including a local Teamsters affiliate, have identified the IUJAT as a “sham” union – an organization that might talk and act like an outfit dedicated to organizing workers that instead acts on behalf of management. LaborPress – a pro-union publication which covers labor issues – described the leader of an IUJAT affiliate as an ex-Teamster suspended from that union for making “sham collective bargaining agreements” who served time in federal prison for extortion. CEED was the focus of a since-withdrawn complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
What Settlement of Vaccine Mandate Case Says About Corruption of Teachers Unions
June 2, 2023 // But a second lawsuit by the teachers is pending, one that has garnered little media attention but may have greater long-term implications. That lawsuit also was filed against the Barrington Education Association, which brazenly abandoned these three dues-paying union members. In the same case earlier this spring, the three teachers’ attorney, Gregory Piccirilli, filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claim against the Barrington teachers union, an affiliate of the National Education Association.
Suspect unions’ effort to evade state law could hurt marijuana workers
April 13, 2023 // In many states with adult-use legalization, state law requires legal marijuana businesses to sign a labor peace agreement, or LPA, with a “bona fide” labor union before receiving final licensing. The LPAs are contracts in which an employer agrees to be neutral during a labor-organizing campaign. In return, the union agrees not to picket, boycott or otherwise interfere with the employer’s business. States that require would-be cannabis industry operators to secure labor peace agreements under state law include some of the U.S. industry’s biggest markets: California and New York as well as New Jersey and Connecticut.
Northern California workers at cannabis delivery service Grassdoor unionize
March 27, 2023 // “These workers are critical to the success of the cannabis supply chain, and they deserve to have prosperous, sustainable careers that reflect the value they bring to their employers,” Peter Finn, Western Region International vice president and Teamsters Food Processing Division director, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with them on securing better wages, benefits, and working conditions.” Grassdoor driver Alexander Torres joined the union to secure paid vacation and paid time off, according to the release.
From Starbucks to Marijuana Dispensaries, 2022 Marked a Year of Gains for Labor Organizers in Chicago, US
December 28, 2022 // Election day also brought a win for union backers, when voters supported the so-called Workers’ Rights Amendment broadening rights in the Illinois constitution for collective bargaining. “This is a major win for workers rights that will outlast any single politicians’ term and enshrine a key right for Illinoisans for generations to come,” Governor J.B. Pritzker said in a December proclamation announcing the amendment had passed. Organizers and their supporters are also hopeful the National Labor Relations Board is about to get a financial boost in a new federal spending plan. The $25 million budget increase will be the agency’s first in nine years, according to the NLRB union. Union supporters say the agency has been chronically underfunded, weakening its ability to enforce labor laws.
Booming US cannabis industry seen as fertile ground for union expansion
August 3, 2022 // Union organizing in the cannabis industry has driven a surge of union elections in retail, one of the few industries to experience unionization gains in recent years, winning 18 out of 26 union elections in 2021. The United Food and Commercial Workers and the Teamsters both represent thousands of workers in the cannabis industry and are leading union organizing campaigns to keep up with the pace of the industry’s growth.
Workers at a second Missouri medical marijuana dispensary vote to unionize
July 12, 2022 // Employees of Bloom Medicinals dispensary in Missouri voted to unionize, the second dispensary in the state to do so. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, staffers at Bloom in O’Fallon voted to join Local 655 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. David Cook, cannabis, Jim Araby,
Amazon Takes On the National Labor Relations Board
April 27, 2022 // In the 25 official objections Amazon filed with the board, the company argues that the NLRB’s “interference and mismanagement” prevented “a free and fair election” at its Staten Island facility. Among other things, Amazon alleges that the board arbitrarily excluded some workers from the bargaining unit in which the union had to show 30% support to hold a vote. The company also alleges the NLRB let union representatives distribute marijuana to workers in exchange for votes and intimidate workers opposed to collective bargaining. (The union’s lawyer told the Associated Press that the intimidation allegation is “patently absurd” and handing out marijuana “is no different from distributing free T-shirts and it certainly did not act to interfere with the election.”)
The Teamsters Have A New Training Center To Teach Members To Grow Weed, But The Timing May Be Bad
April 26, 2022 // A training center opens just as there is a glut in the marijuana market.