Just a few weeks after unions declared victory at marijuana businesses in Illinois and New Jersey, workers at two additional Illinois dispensaries have voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first collective bargaining agreements with Teamsters Local 777.
According to a press release cannabis consultants and agents-in-charge at two dispensaries operated by Zen Leaf, a subsidiary of Verano, have both voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first collective bargaining agreements with Teamsters Local 777.
“Trade unionism is a full contact sport, and just like anything you train for, you get out of it what you put into it,” said Jim Glimco, Local 777 President. “The workers at the Pilsen and Lombard locations worked incredibly hard and demonstrated remarkable tenacity, and that’s why they both secured great collective bargaining agreements for themselves.”
“These workers are at the vanguard of an energized, innovative, militant, twenty-first century labor movement,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and Food Processing Division Director. “Their victory at Verano serves as a blueprint for successfully building a career in the cannabis industry.”
“This victory is indicative of how aware our generation of workers – and cannabis workers in particular – have become,” said Jim Doane, who works at the Pilsen dispensary. “We simply will not be denied our right to the American dream, and we know that organizing is the best way to achieve it.”
“This contract is monumental – not just for our dispensaries, but for the entire industry,” said Lailane Dela Cruz, who works at the Lombard dispensary. “It just goes to show that we really do have a voice loud enough to help create proper work conditions. I see this contract as just the beginning. Others will see this as a steppingstone in helping to create a new standard throughout the cannabis business.”
Founded in 1937, Teamsters Local 777 represents workers in a wide variety of industries throughout the Chicago area.
In July workers at legal marijuana stores in California and Missouri voted to join the Teamsters union in what is becoming a growing trend among those working in the marijuana industry. In May over 180 employees at legal marijuana stores in Illinois and California unionized.
