Cannabis industry the latest frontier for labor organizing efforts
As legal adult cannabis use continues to spread across the country, a movement to organize cannabis workers is also spreading. The need for pharmacy and cultivation workers has grown rapidly, along with calls for higher wages, improved benefits, diversity and inclusion efforts, and more.
To date, 21 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana. Bills legalizing adult-use marijuana are pending in several other states. Cannabis sales in the United States are estimated at $57 billion by 2030, according to Forbes. The industry shows no signs of slowing down. Unions have taken note and appear to be targeting the cannabis workforce.
Union efforts were spurred on by Industrial Peace Agreement (LPA) legislation. While LPA laws vary from state to state, they generally require that cannabis companies take a cautious approach to unionization efforts as a condition of doing business in the state. This means that the company cannot intervene in the organization efforts. However, unions usually also agree through the LPAs not to interfere in the operations of the company. Alternatively, some LPA laws provide preferential license application status for companies that enter into LPAs.
California, New York, New Jersey and Virginia all have different requirements regarding LPAs in their states. Pennsylvania and Illinois do not require LPAs, but the states offer certain benefits to companies that enter into LPAs. Several other states, such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Minnesota, are considering enacting their own LPA requirements.
The apparent enthusiasm of the organizing effort has largely paid off for unions in 2022. According to Bloomberg Law’s NLRB election statistics report, unions won 76% of all elections in 2022, one of the highest success rates on record. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which calls itself the “cannabis workers’ union” and represents more than 10,000 cannabis members, won 70% of the 2022 representative elections. You are not the only ones. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which unionized some growers, won 66% of representative elections in 2022.
Although there have been some litigation related to LPAs and organizing efforts, most cannabis companies don’t seem to question these requirements so far. This has the strategic benefit of allowing cannabis companies to obtain licenses and begin operations rather than engaging in a lengthy legal battle. However, as unions expand and tighten their grip on cannabis workforces, industry groups may start to fight back.