NRTW Fights UFCW Labor Union Representing NJ Cannabis Workers at GTI & Rise Dispensaries
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTW) filed a petition to remove the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360 union from representing cannabis workers at the large Multi-State Operator (MSO) Green Thumb Industries (GTI), which operates Rise dispensaries.
The NRTW filed the decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of his coworkers at five locations across New Jersey. Their lawyers represent Michael Potter, a warehouse worker at GTI, free of charge.
He is one of 275 workers at the New Jersey GTI and Rise Dispensaries operations.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor laws.
According to the NRTW, Potter collected more than enough employee signatures on his petition to trigger a decertification vote under NLRB rules.
Potter’s lawyers filed a decertification petition to challenge the card check unionization campaigns that the NRTW says the “UFCW union bosses foisted on his coworkers.”
UFCW Local 360 labor union Organizing Director Hugh Giordano questioned the legality of their signature gathering process.
“UFCW Local 360 maintains majority support of Green Thumb Industries employees, having obtained a valid showing of interest from workers and voluntary recognition from the employer,” he explained. “The parties have negotiated a fair and competitive contract. Which was overwhelmingly ratified by the membership.”
Anti-Labor Union Feelings
“Many of us believe the UFCW does not advance our interests. We would be better off without the union in our workplace,” said Potter in a press release.
“We simply seek a secret ballot election that was denied to us when the union was installed,” he added.
A cultivation worker reached out to Heady NJ and claimed the union is more popular in the dispensaries than the facility he works at. He didn’t like that it felt forced upon them.
They make it seem like the union forced their way in when there. But the only way there would be a union is if the majority of workers wanted a labor union.
An RTWF representative said GTI Rise is not paying them to fight the union.
GTI Rise New Jersey Operations
The New Jersey Rise dispensaries operate in Bloomfield in Essex County, Paterson in Passaic County, and Paramus in Bergen County in North Jersey. They have a separate cultivation facility to grow cannabis and a manufacturing place to make products. Thus, GTI Rise New Jersey is vertically integrated.
While they began in the medical cannabis market, they also now operate in the adult-use cannabis market as well.
The Cannabis Workers Union of GTI and Rise Dispensaries
“We have a good relationship with workers. We wouldn’t be there if we didn’t,” Giordano said.
He noted the workers authorized the UFCW union to represent them and passed their contract.
“These workers… deserve fair wages and good benefits and holidays. All those things we got in the contract,” Giordano said.
He said it guaranteed salary increases and holiday pay.
Giordano said he is very receptive to feedback. He noted union representatives often speak to their members to make them feel welcome and explain how they help them.
“The Right to Work Foundation takes advantage of workers’ fear and anger,” he argued.
Giordano believes there are merely a few angry individuals.
“I don’t pretend we’re perfect. But I tell the workers I’m here for you,” he explained.
The National Right to Work Foundation
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation would like to paint labor unions as invasive bullies.
“It’s really there to help the billionaire class. It’s funded by owners, by big companies,” Giordano argued about the National Right to Work Foundation.
Several wealthy individuals with large companies seem to fund it.
Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars hiring a range of consultants to fight union efforts however they like.
Labor unions respond to workers who are so angry at the poor conditions they work in that they risk their jobs often to get a union to help fight for better conditions like raises, health benefits, and safety precautions.
Why Should Cannabis Workers Join a Union?
Giordano noted a Labor Peace Agreement (LPA) prevented him from detailing the specific abuses of the cannabis workers by GTI and Rise dispensaries.
But he explained that, in general people join unions to try to make better money. So, they advocate that companies promote workers into better positions as well.
“Starting people at 16 dollars isn’t going to pay the bills,” Giordano noted. “A 23-year-old can have a wife or a child. They need major medical (benefits). They need dental.”
Sick days and vacation days are some of the big benefits unions fight for, he added. Giordano noted they also negotiate for cannabis worker benefits like making more money for working on a holiday for example.
Giordano explained how as a union in general, they can help people who might otherwise lose their jobs for petty offenses.
He noted they also advocate to improve conditions and safety, like providing proper safety equipment like masks and gloves for example.
Giordano noted a woman died in Massachusetts working in a cannabis facility because she didn’t have proper gear despite her pollen allergy.
“There’s a lot of patients in this industry. They might need good healthcare (benefits) to take care of themselves,” he said.
“People join unions just because they want a voice,” Giordano added.
He said a lot of workers keep their mouths shut about abuses and are afraid to speak up. Giordano noted they help in the grievance process when cannabis workers are unfairly criticized by their bosses and unfairly fired.
UFCW Union and New Jersey Cannabis Legalization
The UFCW labor union represents cannabis workers at many different New Jersey cannabis companies. They have been advocating for New Jersey cannabis legalization for a while. Giordano himself went to many town council meetings to support the opening of legal cannabis dispensaries throughout the state.
In addition, Giordano’s deputy Mike Burry has been advocating in Trenton legislative committees on the need to legalize and unionize the possible medical psilocybin or magic mushrooms industry legalization along with intoxicating hemp regulation.
They have endorsed the medical cannabis home growing weed legalization industry coalition campaign along with independent dispensaries and cannabis manufacturers, among others.
Giordano was honored at the Real Cannabis Entrepreneur Conference last year. Their 2024 cannabis and psychedelics industry conference is this week.
Notably, the UFCW and the NJ CannaBusiness Association (NJCBA), which represents dispensaries and a range of cannabis companies, enjoy warm relations. Usually, a union and a business association would not get along.
Heady NJ has had close relations with the UFCW labor union after moderating their cannabis union mixer and holding an event in January 2023 at their hall in South Jersey featuring NJCRC Commissioner Krista Nash.