Workers at a Cresco Labs cannabis cultivation facility in Massachusetts have voted to de-unionize in what is believed to be the first instance of unionized cannabis workers departing from organized labor, MJBizDaily reports.
Workers at the multi-state operator’s Fall Rivers cultivation site signed with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328 in November 2020, and their contract was set to expire this June.
Wyatt Brissette, the Cresco employee who initiated the de-unionization vote, said the benefits from belonging to the union didn’t justify its $40 monthly fees. “We felt as if (the union) didn’t match what we needed,” Brissette said in the report. Ultimately, 18 of the location’s 20 cultivation workers supported the move to de-certify.
Lindsey Dadourian, the senior vice president of employee and labor relations for Cresco Labs, said the company was “very proud” of the employees’ “trust in Cresco.”
“We have always supported our employees’ choice to decide about organized representation, and that goes both ways. We will continue to support our employees while also working to maintain positive and productive relationships with the local unions that continue to represent some of our employees elsewhere.” — Dadourian, via MJBizDaily
The de-certification vote presents a setback for organized labor in the cannabis industry, which has otherwise grown more frequent among workers at cannabis companies of all shapes and sizes.
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