Unionization Efforts In Cannabis Continue: Workers At New Jersey Cultivation Site Join UFCW Local 152

Workers at a New Jersey cannabis cultivation site have voted to join United Food and Commercial Workers Local 152. The vote is the latest in a string of successes for the union’s Cannabis Division.

Twelve cultivators at the Cannabist Company CBSTF, previously Columbia Care, facility in Vineland, N.J., supported union representation through a majority card check in September, leading to the certification of the results by the NJ State Board of Mediation on Oct. 6. This certification designated Local 152 as the workers’ union.

“We are proud to represent these cannabis cultivators,” Local 152 president Brian String stated. “We take seriously their trust in our union. We will ensure their voice is heard and their hard work is respected. As our Cannabis Division grows, so does our strength at the bargaining table. A fair contract and fair treatment for cannabis workers is possible in New Jersey and beyond.”

The cultivators at the facility grow and process cannabis, oversee its production and prepare it for sale to consumers.

Local 152 will continue to meet with the workers to draft contract proposals and schedule bargaining dates with the company. The cultivators seek wage increases and improvements to their working environment, including training and expanded access to protective equipment.

This organizing win follows another successful cannabis-related drive by Local 152 earlier this year at an MPX facility in Pleasantville when workers at Acreage Holdings’ The Botanist ACRHF dispensaries in Egg Harbor and Atlantic City ratified a first contract with wage increases in June.

See Also: All Curaleaf Cannabis Dispensaries In New Jersey Unionized As Members Of UFCW

Photo: Courtesy of Michael Fischer via Pexels