In another example of the growing unionization of the marijuana industry, employees of Dragonfly Wellness, a medical marijuana dispensary in Salt Lake City, have voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
This marks the first marijuana-related company in Utah to unionize. The vote involved around 30 employees, with the move to unionize passing with an overwhelming majority.
“Employees included in the newly formed cannabis union include Dragonfly Wellness associates, team leads, drivers, delivery leads, inventory specialists, pharmacists, and head trainers,” according to a press release bu UFCW Local 99.
Dragonfly Wellness, a vertically integrated company, opened the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary in 2020.
According to the Utah Department of Health & Human Services, the state has 72,370 registered medical marijuana patients as of August 2023,.
Earlier this month drivers and budtenders at Ascend Cannabis Provisions in Michigan overwhelmingly ratified their first contract with Teamsters Local 406. In August labor unions in Illinois and New Jersey declared victories in contract disputes that impacted dozens of employees. Earlier that month dozens of workers in California and Missouri’s legal marijuana industry voted to unionize for the first time.
