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Making Change at Walmart (MCAW) held a press conference in Milwaukee on April 12 to draw attention to the “dark store” tax loophole used by Walmart and other big box retailers. MCAW also called on Wisconsin state leadership to revisit A.B. 386, a bill that attempts to close this tax loophole. Alderwoman Chantia Lewis (District 9), representatives from Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, and members of UFCW Local 1473 also attended the event, which was held at a vacant mall.

Big box retailers like Walmart have been using the “dark store” tax loophole to reduce their property tax rates by assessing their properties as if they were vacant, abandoned, or “dark.” This tax loophole unfairly shifts the property tax burden to homeowners and reduces the amount of funding available for public schools. In Wisconsin, Walmart and other big box retailers used the “dark store” tax loophole to try and cut their property assessments by an estimated $700 million for the 12 months ending November 2017.

MCAW will host a similar event press conference at the Wisconsin State Capitol on Tax Day, Tuesday, April 17 with the sponsor of A.B. 386, Wisconsin Senator Janis Ringhand, as well as Senator Chris Larson and Assemblymember John Ohnstad.

On April 2, 38 workers at Cypress Manufacturing Company in Salinas, California, joined UFCW Local 5. The facility is part of Altai Brands and the workers produce a variety of edible cannabis products. Indus Holding Company is the parent company of Altai Brands.

The cannabis processing workers joined UFCW Local 5 for a voice in the workplace. “They complained about a list of broken promises around basic issues like regular wage increases and evaluations – but want they really want is respect,” said Union Representative Efrain Aguilera.

Long known as the “nation’s salad bowl,” the Salinas Valley agriculture industry is in transition as traditional crops, particularly flowers, are replaced by more profitable cannabis plants. The area is home to nearly 100 cannabis-related companies, which employ thousands of workers.

UFCW Local 5 was one of the first unions in the country to organize workers in the cannabis industry, focusing initially on Bay Area medical marijuana dispensaries before legalization for recreational use in California was approved by voters in 2016. UFCW Local 5 continues to focus on dispensaries, manufacturing facilities, and workers who grow and harvest cannabis, including a current campaign with Indus/Cypress field workers covered by the Agricultural Labor Relations Act.

As the industry grows so will UFCW Local 5’s effort to organize workers “from seed to sale,” said Aguilera.