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\u201cI think as a general matter this is a group of workers that seems to be inclined toward organization.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current<\/strong><\/p>\n As a patient-care specialist at Warwick\u2019s RISE Dispensary, Bruce Botelho recommends strains to customers and oversees purchases at a job he said initially provided good benefits and a friendly atmosphere.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really fun job, the people I work with are great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Yet things soured quickly after Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries took over the former Summit Medical Compassion Center in 2021, he said.<\/p>\n While there were few changes at first, Botelho said employee discounts were reduced after the transition to recreational sales earlier this year. Then hours for full and part-time workers were cut without warning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels sometimes like we\u2019re actively being punished for choosing to work here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It was that final decision by Green Thumb to cut hours that spurred Botelho to unionize his workplace in May. Within a month, workers at RISE voted 50-6 to form a union with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very rare that you can get everyone on board so quickly,\u201d said RISE worker Helen Saad. \u201cThat also speaks to how poorly things have been run and how unhappy staff is.\u201d<\/p>\n RISE isn\u2019t the first cannabis business to organize in Rhode Island. Ocean State Cultivation Center, also based in Warwick, partnered with UFCW in 2020 and Portsmouth-based Greenleaf Compassion Care Center joined in 2021, ratifying its first contract last year.<\/p>\n Since unionization, Santos said Greenleaf workers have seen \u201cgains in terms of wages and benefits.\u201d Included in the inaugural two-year contract are paid vacations, the opportunity to earn tips, and protected time and a half on Sunday.<\/p>\n UFCW Field Organizer Mike Santos said other cannabis workers have reached out to the union on how they can organize their workplace. Still, the number of unionized workplaces remains small relative to the seven licensed compassion centers and 62 cultivators in Rhode Island.<\/p>\n Under the 2022 Rhode Island Cannabis Act, the state\u2019s newly-formed Cannabis Control Commission can grant 24 more retail licenses.<\/p>\n Michael Yelnosky, professor of law at Roger Williams University, said the push to unionize the cannabis industry is not at a surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cI think as a general matter this is a group of workers that seems to be inclined toward organization,\u201d he said. \u201cParticularly when they look around and see that there is some nationwide, regional and more local energy these days.\u201d<\/p>\n Yelnosky said while cannabis may be viewed as a progressive industry, work conditions are not always so.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen push comes to shove and workers are in a workplace thinking about their actual on the ground wages and terms and conditions of employment, they may voice some desires and if they\u2019re not met, they may start to look elsewhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a feeling Saad said she knew all too well before RISE\u2019s unionization.<\/p>\n She said her hours were abruptly cut from 40 a week to 33 in May\u2014just as she placed a $2,600 down payment on an apartment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not right and it\u2019s not fair,\u201d Saad said. \u201cWould I have to find another job? What was I going to do? I had to make sure I had enough money to pay electricity and rent.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement emailed Tuesday, a Green Thumb spokesperson said the company \u201crespects the rights of our employees, including the fundamental right to freedom of association.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to productive, good-faith bargaining toward a new contract with the Green Thumb employees now represented by the UFCW.\u201d<\/p>\n But the statement also denied the employees\u2019 claims, saying: \u201cWe have not reduced the hours available to employees at our Warwick store. As it relates to the loyalty program, we have not eliminated any employee benefits\u2014the policy is standard across our employee base.\u201d<\/p>\n Yelnosky said UFCW organized the cannabis industry so quickly because of \u201clabor peace agreements,\u201d which require that an employer agree not to oppose unionization and the union agrees to not strike or otherwise stop work. Though Santos notes none of the existing cannabis businesses used these agreements in their unionization.<\/p>\n Rhode Island, California, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have all\u00a0enacted laws supporting unions in the cannabis industry. Massachusetts did not include agreements as part of its cannabis legislation passed in 2016.<\/p>\n Some agreements require employers to remain neutral in relation to organization efforts and that unions must be allowed on their properties.<\/p>\n The Rhode Island statute only requires that the union agree not to engage in picketing, work-stoppages, boycotts, and \u201cany other economic interference with the entity.\u201d<\/p>\n The agreement is currently the\u00a0subject of a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month<\/a> by Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center\u00a0in Rhode Island U.S. District Court. Greenelaf argues labor peace agreements violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution as well as the National Labor Relations Act.<\/p>\n \u2014 Yelnosky said the court typically sides with existing federal law and that Greenleaf does not have a strong case.<\/p>\n \u201cThis doesn\u2019t strike me as a particularly problematic requirement,\u201d he said. \u201cRhode Island didn\u2019t go whole hog on this.\u201d<\/p>\n And just because a state has a labor peace agreement as law, workers are required to unionize.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just a requirement that until the employees have expressed their preference, certain weapons are off the table,\u201d Yelnosky said. \u201cAnd nobody\u2019s being forced to agree to anything in a collective bargaining agreement if workers decide to unionize.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps the biggest way unions can grow in the cannabis industry, he said, is through successful contracts.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce it\u2019s clear the UFCW has power and it\u2019s clear employees are likely to learn about the unionization drive at the other place, then it\u2019s really hard for employers to fight off the union,\u201d Yelnosky said.<\/p>\n This story was first published by Rhode Island Current.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Minnesota Indian Tribe Launches First Marijuana Sales In The State As Legalization Takes Effect<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Rhode Island Marijuana Workers Step Up Push For Unionization<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as a general matter this is a group of workers that seems to be inclined toward organization.\u201d By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current As a patient-care specialist at Warwick\u2019s RISE Dispensary, Bruce Botelho recommends strains to customers and oversees purchases at a job he said initially provided goodContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":67336,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67335"}],"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=67335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67337,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67335\/revisions\/67337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why the push?<\/h3>\n
Labor Peace Agreements<\/h3>\n
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\nRead More: Rhode Island Marijuana Workers Step Up Push For Unionization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"