All employees at Curaleaf Holdings’ New Jersey cannabis retail operations have now unionized with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360.
According to the UFCW, workers at the multistate operator’s store in Bordertown on Thursday became the last to vote for unionization.
That’s a trend in the marijuana space nationwide but particularly in pro-union markets such as California, Illinois and Massachusetts.
“Every Curaleaf employee in the state is joining the UFCW,” UFCW Local 360 President Sam Ferraino said in a statement.
“It’s exciting, but our work is far from done.
“We’ll continue to crisscross the state, visiting every location of every company to help employees exercise their rights, and to highlight the growing danger of fake company unions.”
The rise of fake unions has jeopardized inroads made by the UFCW and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, critics charge, while offering limited or no benefits to workers.
Curaleaf’s retail locations in Bordertown, Bellmawr and Edgewater serve both medical marijuana patients and adult-use consumers.
The unionization comes a little less than three months after New Jersey regulators renewed Curaleaf Holdings’ marijuana licenses after revoking them.
The April decision by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission to deny the license renewals came weeks after Curaleaf announced it was closing a cultivation facility in Bellmawr.
As part of the licensing approval, Curaleaf said it will provide regulators with more information regarding its labor practices and confirm ongoing compliance with New Jersey law and regulations.
The UFCW represents more than 1.3 million workers across the U.S. and Canada in several industries, including retail, manufacturing and cannabis. (Full Story)