Cannabis Workers Will Unionize In Oregon If Ballot Measure Is Approved In November Elections

An initiative seeking to enable easier unionization in the cannabis industry in Oregon got the green light from the secretary of state's office to appear on the November ballot.

State officials confirmed that the campaign from the regional chapter of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) collected enough verified signatures – over 160 000 – from voters.

UFCW Local 555 delivered more than 163,000 signatures for verification before the July 5 deadline, which is about 46,000 more than required.

Measure 119, United for Cannabis Workers Act, seeks to "ensure that cannabis workers' freedoms to organize and bargain collectively are protected under state law," according to last week’s press release. "No one would be required to join a union, but workers would have the freedom to do so if they choose."

The latest push from UFCW follows its failed attempt to reform the cannabis landscape. In 2023, the union pushed for the passage of House Bill 2183, a similar measure, but the bill was tabled due to concerns it would conflict with federal law.

Read Also: Cannabis (De)Unionization: Here’s What’s New On The Frontlines Of Labor Organizing Among Weed Workers

"Workers across every industry should have the freedom to unionize if they so choose," Dan Clay, president of UFCW Local 555, said in a press release. "This ballot measure closes an age-old loophole that deprives that right to thousands of Oregon cannabis workers."

Clay cautioned that "shady cannabis tycoons have taken advantage of an outdated law to strip workers' rights that are guaranteed to nearly every other American. By passing Measure 119, voters will enshrine the freedom to unionize in the Oregon Cannabis industry."

The policy reform effort is supported by the Oregon AFL-CIO and Oregon Working Families Party, as well as a number of state and local officials.

Meanwhile, marijuana workers at a production facility in Joliet, Illinois, operated by cannabis company Cresco Labs Inc. CL CRLBF 6CQ recently voted to leave their union – United Food & Commercial Workers.

Jonathan Keselenko, a partner in Foley Hoag’s cannabis practice in Boston, told the outlet that this move seems to indicate that the excitement for unionization among cannabis workers is fading, as recently highlighted by Benzinga's Nina Zdinjak. In April, employees at Cresco's Massachusetts cultivation facility voted to de-unionize, instead of negotiating another labor deal as its contract neared expiration.

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