{"id":66737,"date":"2023-07-11T12:34:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T20:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/07\/11\/rhode-island-marijuana-dispensary-sues-to-overturn-labor-provisions-of-legalization-law\/"},"modified":"2023-07-12T19:48:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T03:48:01","slug":"rhode-island-marijuana-dispensary-sues-to-overturn-labor-provisions-of-legalization-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/07\/11\/rhode-island-marijuana-dispensary-sues-to-overturn-labor-provisions-of-legalization-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhode Island Marijuana Dispensary Sues To Overturn Labor Provisions Of Legalization Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, it just seems outrageous that Greenleaf, which has been fighting worker organizations at its dispensary tooth and nail, is insulting its workforce once again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amid growing tensions with its workers over labor standards and unionization, a Portsmouth marijuana dispensary is taking aim at the state\u2019s recreational cannabis law.<\/p>\n

Greenleaf Compassion Center filed a complaint in federal court\u00a0on Monday, contending that the marijuana legalization law signed in May 2022 violates the U.S. Constitution and national labor standards. The lawsuit comes on the heels of a second settlement agreement between the company and its workers for alleged federal labor law violations.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0sweeping Rhode Island Cannabis Act\u00a0established a process to legalize, tax and sell marijuana, while expunging civil and criminal records for marijuana possession. A single-page section of the 125-page document requires all retailers to enter into \u201clabor peace agreements\u201d with their workers, which allow employees to unionize in exchange for not picketing, boycotting or stopping work.<\/p>\n

Which is where Greenleaf takes issue, alleging that the labor agreement requirement \u201cdeprives employers of their bargaining power, forces them to agree to unfavorable terms, and deprives employees of their right to engage in labor activities protected under federal law, such as strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Specifically, the lawsuit<\/a> filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island says the forced labor agreement violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution as well as the National Labor Relations Act.<\/p>\n

The cannabis dispensary, which first applied for a license in 2010, began selling products to medical marijuana customers in 2013. In April 2021, Greenleaf workers voted to join the local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers. Negotiations between Greenleaf and Local 328 continued through the following year, with the\u00a0first union contract ratified<\/a> in August 2022.<\/p>\n

During the collective bargaining process, the state legalized recreational marijuana, including the provisions for labor peace agreements. Greenleaf in its complaint says that the union was \u201cintransigent\u201d and \u201cunwilling to compromise because it knew it would soon have increased leverage through the LPA mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint also cites the terms of the contract, which include a $1,000 ratification bonus for workers, as \u201clargely unfavorable\u201d to the company, warning that it will \u201ccontinue to suffer harm for so long as the LPA mandate is in place and enforced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Union representatives paint a different picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen few employers so egregiously violate workers\u2019 rights to the extent that Seth Bock [company founder and CEO] has at Greenleaf,\u201d\u00a0Sam Marvin, an organizing director for Local 328, said in an emailed statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the actions of employers like Seth Bock, labor peace agreements have become a necessity to protect workers\u2019 rights. This component took effect long after workers had already organized and won their election 21 to 1 in 2021, despite fierce union-busting attempts by Bock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back pay ordered<\/h4>\n

Last month, the National Labor Relations Board\u00a0ordered<\/a> Greenleaf\u00a0to stop threatening, demoting, and laying off workers because of their union support and to give more than $116,000 in back pay to workers who were unjustly fired as well as remaining employees who became part of the union.<\/p>\n

It was the second time the Portsmouth company will have to pay back employees for violating federal labor laws.\u00a0A prior settlement <\/a>announced by Local 328 in December 2021\u00a0included six weeks of back pay for workers, along with agreements to rectify other alleged workers\u2019 rights violations.<\/p>\n

Greenleaf declined to offer additional comment beyond the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The complaint, which names Local 328 as a defendant, asks a federal court judge to declare the labor peace requirement unconstitutional and nullify its existing collective labor agreement with employees.\u00a0It also seeks to stop the state from enforcing the labor peace mandate. The lawsuit names as defendants the three members of the\u00a0newly created Cannabis Control Commission<\/a>\u2014Kimberly Ahern, Robert Jacquard and Olayiwola Oduyingbo\u2014as well as Matthew Santacroce, deputy director of the R.I. Department of Business Regulation; and Erica Ferrelli, chief of the Office of Cannabis Regulation.<\/p>\n

Matthew Touchette, a spokesperson for the Department of Business Regulation and the Office of Cannabis Regulation, said the state does not comment on pending litigation.<\/p>\n

Marvin also declined to provide additional comments beyond the emailed statement.<\/p>\n

Other union organizers and labor advocates continued to back the labor provisions of the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is in workers\u2019 interest to be able to have a labor peace agreement,\u201d said Patrick Crowley, a union organizer and secretary-treasurer for the RI\u00a0AFL-CIO. \u201cBut it\u2019s also in the employer\u2019s interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenleaf claimed in the complaint that the labor agreement was not created to benefit the state\u2014which would make it legally defensible\u2014but rather, \u201cto accomplish policy goals as a result of lobbying efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crowley disagreed, citing the high taxes and regulation as reasons why the state has a vested financial interest in the nascent marijuana industry\u2019s success, including preventing worker boycotts. State licensed pot shops, including Greenleaf, reported a\u00a0combined $8.9 million in sales in May, the latest data available, according to the Department of Business Regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/b>This really sounds like an employer trying to play hardball with taxpayer resources,\u201d Crowley said.<\/p>\n

Daniel Denvir, an organizer with the progressive group Reclaim Rhode Island, put it more bluntly.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, it just seems outrageous that Greenleaf, which has been fighting worker organizations at its dispensary tooth and nail, is insulting its workforce once again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reclaim RI was among the advocates playing an active role in shaping the legislation, including provisions for workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

Greenleaf did not participate in public hearings over the proposal, according to Rep. Scott Slater, who sponsored the House version of the bill. Hence why the Providence Democrat was surprised by the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Slater acknowledged, as Greenleaf alleged, that the original bill did not include the labor requirement. But he disagreed with Greenleaf\u2019s accusation that the provision was added to appease lobbyists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always open to making sure jobs, and not just folks lucky enough to get a license, but their employees, were protected and had protections,\u201d Slater said.<\/p>\n

Other states, particularly on the West Coast, have included similar labor peace agreement provisions in their cannabis laws, said Shaleen Title, a Boston-based attorney who previously served on Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. Massachusetts\u2019 law does not include these labor protections, which Title said was likely because workers\u2019 rights were not top-of-mind among lawmakers when the state passed the law in 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if we were having that discussion today, workers\u2019 rights would have come up,\u201d Title said.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Rhode Island Current.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Massachusetts Marijuana Sales Hit New Record High Of $152 Million In June, With State Nearing $5 Billion In Recreational Purchases Since Market Launch<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post Rhode Island Marijuana Dispensary Sues To Overturn Labor Provisions Of Legalization Law<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\u201cTo me, it just seems outrageous that Greenleaf, which has been fighting worker organizations at its dispensary tooth and nail, is insulting its workforce once again.\u201d By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current Amid growing tensions with its workers over labor standards and unionization, a Portsmouth marijuana dispensary is taking aimContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1335],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66738,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66737\/revisions\/66738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}