Unions Growing Stronger In Cannabis Industry With Curaleaf Dispensary Joining The Ranks

Employees at Curaleaf’s CURLF Edgewater, NJ., dispensary have voted to organize as members of United Food and Commercial Workers. The Curaleaf location in Edgewater originally served only medical marijuana patients, but now also serves the adult use market. Nationally, Curaleaf operates 134 local dispensaries and 26 cultivation sites across 22 states.

“Votes like this will keep New Jersey’s cannabis economy thriving for years to come. A whole new generation of workers is discovering that labor unions play a critical role in balancing the needs of employees, communities and employers, and they want in,” stated Hugh Giordano, UFCW Local 360 director of organizing. “And when we take the recent decision to pardon people convicted of ‘simple possession’ into account, it’s clear that the mission of protecting cannabis workers in their workplaces, and establishing a fair and equitable industry that supports family-sustaining jobs, is making serious progress.”

Curaleaf describes itself as a company of leaders, community members and responsible employers. With the decision by its Edgewater location to join with UFCW Local 360, those claims are made even stronger and more tangible, according to Giordano.

Numerous dispensaries have unionized since the beginning of the year, and the ‘unionization pace’ does not seem to be dwindling. In September workers at the Cresco Labs’ CRLBF Sunnyside Dispensary in Schaumburg, Illinois have voted to join Teamsters Local 777, while workers at the Trulieve TCNNF North Shore medical cannabis dispensary voted to join UFCW Local 1776.

In August, dispensaries Lume Cannabis in Monroe, Ascend Wellness AAWH in Boston and Verano's VRNOF Zen Leaf in the neighborhood of Pilsen all became unionized. And this list covers just the most recent unionizations.

Photo: Benzinga; Sources: courtesy of Bits And Splits and Oleksandrum via Shutterstock