Monthly Archives: April 2023

On April 11, workers at the Solid State Books store in Washington, D.C., joined UFCW Local 400 for a better life.

Management voluntarily recognized the union after workers announced that every eligible employee at the store signed authorization cards in favor of unionizing. The unit consists of seven employees at the store, which is located at 600 H Street, NE.

The workers’ organizing committee released the following statement:

“We did it! We have officially unionized! Today, the owners of Solid State Books signed an agreement to voluntarily recognize our union. We couldn’t be more excited to become the second bookstore in D.C. to unionize. Thank you to our customers, community allies and fellow union members for your outpouring of support.”

“We look forward to negotiating our first contract collectively and making Solid State the best workplace it can be. Solidarity forever!”

Solid State Books is now the second bookstore in Washington, D.C., to unionize with UFCW Local 400. In 2022, booksellers and baristas at Politics and Prose made history by becoming the first unionized bookstore in the nation’s capital by joining UFCW Local 400.

Cannabis cultivation workers at Verano in Sharon, Mass., recently joined UFCW Local 1445 for the better wages and benefits that come with a union contract.

The 12 workers voted to join our union family via card check because they were concerned about potential layoffs, workplace health and safety concerns, and insufficient management.

The organizing campaign was worker-led and centered on health and safety and job security. Since cannabis cultivation workers are considered agricultural workers, they are excluded from federal protections under the National Labor Relations Act. However, under the Department of Labor Relations (DLR) in Massachusetts, cannabis cultivation workers are afforded the protections to form a union. Under the DLR, a majority of workers have to sign an authorization card to certify the union and roughly 90 percent of these workers signed cards to authorize the union.