Op-Ed | Originally published in Law360 | May 5, 2020
Labor unions are active on an international level in nearly every industry. These unions can work as advocates for a particular industry, protect workers from exploitation, and even help businesses find the best employees.
With advantages like these, many employers in the cannabis industry have embraced the role of unions, while a small few have pushed back against the involvement of organized labor in their workplace.
Despite this opposition, labor unions have already greatly benefited the growth of the cannabis industry and are likely to make an impact in years to come as the industry continues to legitimize and spread throughout the country.
Organized Labor and the Cannabis Industry
When discussing unions in the cannabis industry, it is important to realize that there are no large cannabis-specific unions operating in the space. Though some are looking to gain a foothold, they simply don’t have the membership or relationships to make as big of an impact as more established unions.
Instead, existing unions like the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW, and United Farm Workers have invited members of the cannabis industry, such as dispensary workers (budtenders), cannabis growers, manufacturers and those in distribution, to join their ranks.
Union involvement in the cannabis industry has not come without opposition. Both businesses and association groups have been accused of promoting anti-union sentiment with claims that unionization will increase operating costs and make it more difficult to do business. There’s also the sentiment from business owners that the unions should be more pro-employer, not fully understanding the role of unions and their role in advocating for the worker.
This growing industry is largely welcoming unions, and hundreds of thousands of cannabis industry employees may soon be union members. While hard numbers surrounding the cannabis industry aren’t tracked by the U.S. Department of Labor, cannabis data firm New Frontier Data estimates 250,000 workers in the industry work directly with the plant itself, including growers, manufacturers and retail workers. Many more work in ancillary sectors of the industry but don’t directly work with the plant.
Of unions active in the cannabis space, the UFCW currently represents the largest section of the cannabis industry with 10,000 cannabis workers across 14 legal cannabis states, making it the largest labor union in the cannabis industry.
How Organized Labor Entered Cannabis
Unions began to get involved in the cannabis industry in the mid-2000s by supporting dispensaries in cities getting involved in legalization efforts, laying the foundation for their work later on.
A few years later, unions would spend close to a half-million dollars in Los Angeles on Proposition D, which created limited immunity against prosecution for the limited number of retailers at the time. The unions didn’t just bring money to the table. They also brought existing relationships with lawmakers and others that were formed through more traditional businesses.
Unions would soon be courting medical marijuana workers statewide in California, and by 2011, unions such as the UFCW were operating nationwide to improve working conditions for cannabis workers.
On the East Coast, New York’s cannabis industry also embraced unions. Unions were instrumental in the creation of New York’s state-licensed cannabis industry. It is little surprise that unions have gained ground in traditional labor footholds like California and the Northeast.
Since then, as states have legalized cannabis in some form, they have included labor and employment plans in their applications, establishing a standard for states implementing their own cannabis programs. Today, almost any state or jurisdiction developing or implementing a licensed cannabis industry has some level of organized labor component.
What Organized Labor Means for the Industry
While many unions exist on an international level, much of the work they do is on a local level through organizing local chapters. The primary role for labor unions working in the cannabis industry is to protect the employees being exploited.
The cannabis industry is only just beginning to move from the black market to a legitimate legal market. In the past, employees would have little choice but to suffer through unsafe working conditions and paychecks that would be paid in the form of cannabis. Now that the cannabis industry is pushing for greater acceptance, unions are stepping in to ensure that workers are not marginalized.
While working for legalization and acceptance as an industry, the involvement of unions like the UFCW adds legitimacy. It is for that reason that many cannabis businesses have embraced union involvement. Labor unions give their business an air of legitimacy, helping to attract good employees, as well as investors.
Up to this point, unions working in the cannabis space have focused on legalization efforts, pushing for reasonable regulations, and ensuring unions have a place at the table. As a result, many of the newest legal cannabis states to come online in the past few years have had a strong labor presence.
Besides supporting legalization efforts, the unions’ primary goals are organizing workers and going to bat for their concerns, including their right to organize. This will represent the next stage in the involvement of unions in the cannabis industry.
What this means for the industry as a whole is that in some states where employment is at will, such as California, that changes. Where startups in general have inherent challenges that lead to greater employee turnover than more established enterprises, changing the at will nature of employment adds a layer of complexity and challenge for a startup.
The positives and advantages organized labor affords greatly outweigh the negatives. For an industry that’s in the process of being legitimized from the ground up, having the experience and support of organized labor contributes greatly to making sure the foundation of the industry is built to code. It ensures the workers are not marginalized and have a future in the industry; it makes stakeholders out of the labor force. The success of the worker becomes the success of the company.
Current Dynamics Between Labor and Cannabis Businesses
Because there are limited options for cannabis-specific unions, larger multi-industry labor organizations like the UFCW and the Teamsters are a much more effective option.
In 2014 and 2015 in New York and California respectively, the UFCW pushed through its labor peace agreement policy, prohibiting businesses in these two key states from preventing workers from organizing. Labor peace agreements are key to promoting an employee’s right to unionize.
California state law requires licensed cannabis businesses with over 20 employees to enter into a labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor union. For example, retail businesses often align with the UFCW. Under these agreements, employers pledge not to suppress attempts to unionize and unions agree not to interfere with business operations by boycotting, striking or picketing. A similar provision exists in New York’s medical marijuana law. Laws like this help make it easier for organized labor to make inroads into the cannabis industry.
While employees, lawmakers and even many businesses have been generally open to union involvement in the cannabis industry, recognizing the benefits to themselves and the customers, there has been opposition as well.
One thing is certain: Organized labor is here to stay in the cannabis industry. The industry has been generally welcoming to organized labor and the unions themselves have been deploying whatever resources they have available to ensure the cannabis industry has a strong foundation to build on.
Avis Bulbulyan is the CEO of cannabis consulting firm SIVA Enterprises. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Law360 or Portfolio Media Inc. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.