On May 7, members of UFCW Local 99 who work at Trulieve Cannabis Corp.’s central production facility on East Magnolia Street in Phoenix ratified their first union contract. This ratification marks the first time agricultural cannabis workers have been covered by a union contract in state history. The contract, which was ratified by an overwhelming margin of the workers, follows more than a year of negotiations between Trulieve and UFCW Local 99.
The three-year contract, which covers employees who work in cannabis cultivation, post-harvest and compliance, includes:
• Guaranteed wage increases.
• Paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave.
• Personal, bereavement, and parental leave.
• Insurance coverage for medical, dental, vision, and life.
• Guaranteed monthly samples.
• Just-cause and due process for discipline/discharge (employees are no longer “at-will”).
Workers at the notoriously odiferous cannabis production plant voted on January 25, 2024 in an historic Arizona Agricultural Labor Relations Board (AERB) election to join the UFCW Local 99. At the time, workers there were the first agricultural workers in nearly a quarter century to form a union through the AERB. To date, the last and only time workers have petitioned for union recognition through the state board was in the year 2000 when employees at the now-defunct Eurofresh tomato hothouse in Willcox voted to join UFCW Local 99.
“No matter where you work, we know that the best way to improve your working life is through a strong, union contract,” said UFCW Local 99 President Jim McLaughlin. “With the ratification of their first contract, employees at Magnolia are helping raise the standard of living for all Arizona cannabis workers, and I could not be prouder to welcome them as the newest members of UFCW Local 99.”
“I feel really proud of everyone at Magnolia for pushing through and having faith in what we were doing to get better pay and benefits for not just us, but everyone in the cannabis industry,” said Allyson Grubbe, a cultivation technician who also served on the union bargaining committee. “I really feel like we’re setting a precedent and laying the groundwork for everyone else in the industry to get on board and unionize for the benefits and rights that we all deserve.”