Missouri cannabis retail workers ratify state’s second union contract
- Cannabis workers at Key Cannabis Dispensary in Springfield, Missouri, ratified a union contract on July 30 after three years of negotiations, marking the second unionized cannabis store contract in the state.
- Missouri legalized recreational marijuana in 2023, leading to a surge in cannabis jobs and increased efforts to unionize, despite company resistance and lengthy legal battles.
- The National Labor Relations Board ruled that post-harvest cannabis workers are not agricultural workers, ensuring their rights to organize under federal law, influencing union votes like the one in St. Louis.
- Cannabis companies in states like Utah and New Jersey are legally challenging union-friendly licensing requirements, while workers in other states, such as Illinois, are demonstrating increased militancy, including strikes and contract negotiations.
Cannabis workers at a licensed retailer in Springfield, Missouri ratified a union contract last week after years of negotiations, union officials said.
The July 30 vote by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 2-organized workers at Key Cannabis Dispensary is believed to be only the second instance of a unionized cannabis store in the $1.5 billion market securing a contract, according to the Springfield News-Leader.
In late June, workers at High Profile Cannabis ratified what UFCW officials said was the state’s very first contract at a retailer.
Key Cannabis workers first voted to unionize three years ago. Contract negotiations dragged until last month.
According to UFCW, the agreement delivers:
Sally Powell, a retail associate at Key Cannabis, framed the vote as a signal to workers elsewhere in the state.
“I’m so proud of our resilience, and I hope our win shows cannabis workers across Missouri that when we stand together, there’s nothing we can’t do,” Powell said in a statement to the News-Leader.
Missouri legalized recreational marijuana in 2023, fueling a surge in cannabis jobs and, soon after, a push to unionize.
Several groups of workers endured years-long legal battles and company pushback before seeing victories this year.
In St. Louis, Proper Brands post-harvest workers, who process and manufacture cannabis products, voted 25-21 on July 1 to unionize.
That followed a key decision from the National Labor Relations Board.
In May, the board rejected a St. Louis cannabis company’s argument that post-harvest employees are agricultural workers, a classification that would exempt them from federal law protecting most private-sector workers’ right to organize without retaliation.
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Cannabis companies around the country are using various tactics to evade union-friendly licensing requirements. Operators in Utah and New Jersey have filed federal lawsuits against state regulators, alleging that such requirements are unconstitutional.
One such lawsuit, filed against the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission by marijuana multistate operator Curaleaf Holdings, is still pending.
Fellow cannabis MSO Verano Holding Corp. also sued the CRC last week, Law360 first reported.
But cannabis workers are also demonstrating increased militancy in response to management.
In Illinois, what’s said to be the biggest strike in cannabis industry history ended after about a month, when more than 300 workers at Ascend Wellnes Holdings’ cultivation complex ratified a contract.