EDITOR’S NOTE: NJ Cannabis Insider is hosting an in-person business networking event July 14 at The Asbury in Asbury Park. Tickets are limited.
Cannabis workers have the wind to their back as the union momentum in New Jersey is picking up.
Nearly two months after adult recreational weed sales launched statewide on April 21, two of eight major cannabis companies now selling both medical and adult weed have gone fully union.
And four more are currently in major negotiations to go the same route, which collectively, could bring 250 new workers under the union umbrella, according to Hugh Giordano, Director of Organizing for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 360, which represents the state’s cannabis workers, as well as other retail, hospital, manufacturing and public sector employees.
The multi-state operators, also known as alternative treatment centers, in deep talks with UFCW-Local 360 are Ascend, Acreage, Columbia Care and GTI.
“We hope to have all contracts, currently being negotiated, signed by Labor Day,” Giordano told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. “That’s our goal. That way, what better way to celebrate Labor Day than with your first union contract. To me that solidifies what that day represents.”
Verano, under the Zen Leaf banner, signed a collective bargaining agreement earlier this year for its dispensaries in Lawrence and Elizabeth and all of its cultivation sites statewide.
When Garden State Dispensary opened in New Jersey to sell medical cannabis only in 2016, it debuted as a union shop at each of its dispensaries and cultivation sites. GSD was acquired by AYR Wellness last year, and on June 15 AYR dispensaries in Eatontown, Union and Woodbridge expanded to sell adult weed.
Giordano said the successful and highly profitable launch of adult weed and its expansion were working to the workers’ advantage. In its first month, the state’s nascent industry generated $24 million in revenue from adult weed sales at a dozen locations.
There are now 16 locations selling both medical and recreational weed, with four more on the horizon awaiting final local and state approvals. TerrAscend in Lodi is just waiting for an opening date from its corporate parent.
“What we are doing now can impact the future generation of workers in terms of working conditions, education training, and self care with heath benefits and retirement plans so they get guaranteed vacations and paid time off,” said Giordano. “It will set the tone for the future. We are creating workplace conditions that are suitable for working class, living wage careers.
“There’s no second chance to stand up for themselves,” said Giordano. “This is it. This is going to be a long term movement. New Jersey is going to be a leader nationally in setting consistency, quality and dependability of product and services.”
The four multi-state operators currently negotiating their first union contracts are: The Botanist, owned by Acreage, at all cultivation sites and dispensaries in Williamstown, Egg Harbor Township and Atlantic City; GTI, which uses the RISE banner, in Bloomfield’s dispensary and cultivation site; and Columbia Care – The Cannabis – in its Deptford dispensary.
If Acreage, GTI, Ascend and Columbia Care go union, that will leave only Curaleaf and TerrAscend, which uses The Apothecarium banner, that have not gone union yet.
“Curaleaf is in discussion with UFCW only as a result of New Jersey state regulations requiring a Labor Peace Agreement.” said a Curaleaf statement late Tuesday.
TerrAscend did not immediately respond to inquiries if it plans to have a unionized workforce in New Jersey.
Giordano said he was going after both firms to have all eight of the original MSOs that applied to sell adult weed with the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission carrying the union flag.
The robust movement among cannabis workers to unionize was in full swing even as the adult recreational market struggled to get off the ground. Despite the glitches, workers behind the scenes were already fanning throughout the state to get contracts in preparation for the big launch into adult recreational weed.
Perri Byrd, a former patient care adviser at Verano Zen Leaf in Lawrence and Elizabeth, led the drive to unionize at the Lawrence dispensary last year. Byrd went to work for UFCW International full time four months ago to organize cannabis workers.
Byrd said before Verano even signed its first union contract in mid-February 2022, UFCW-Local 360 fought for her and her colleagues to get their tip jars back after they were taken away on Black Friday last year. They got the tip jars back the first week of February and got the law changed to allow every dispensary worker in New jersey to be able to accept tips.
“This was huge, even before we paid a due,” said Byrd. “That really solidified for me of what the union can do for workers and what workers can do for themselves.”
As the companies are expanding their presence with more stores, the effort to unionize has kicked into high gear, according to Giordano.
Verano is pushing to expand its dispensary in Neptune Township to sell adult weed.
Ascend debuted its Rochelle Park dispensary to offer both medical and recreational cannabis on April 21, and is looking to do the same in Montclair Township and Fort Lee.
Curaleaf was approved by the Bordentown Township Planning Board on June 23 to sell adult weed there and hopes to present to the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission on July 28 for its state license.
The CRC awards 10 bonus points to cannabis firms that submit an in-state collective bargaining agreement promising unionized staffs when reviewing their applications to expand into the adult recreational market.
“It helps if you have a current bargaining collective agreement you get points on the application,” said Giordano. “It shows you want to sit down and negotiate with your workers. Those are the types of employers we want in New Jersey. If you respect your workers, you’re likely to respect the rest of the community.”
A cannabis company looking to operate in the Garden State also receives 10 points for having a Project Labor Agreement that utilizes Unionized Building Trades for the retrofit and build out of the facility.
“The main reasons that an employee would want to work in a cannabis business as a union employee is worker protection (from unreasonable demands, unsafe working conditions, getting fired without cause) and generally higher pay and good benefits,” Rob Mejia, Adjunct Professor at Stockton University’s cannabis studies department, said in an email. “There are cannabis businesses that do treat their employees well and pay above market rate and in those cases there is little demand for unions.
“But several … treat their employees like numbers and not people and that is why some of the larger organizations have unions at their facilities,” said Mejia.
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Suzette Parmley may be reached at sparmley@njadvancemedia.com or follow her on Twitter: @SuzParmley
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