Posts Categorized: Industries

On March 22, workers at the Health for Life cannabis dispensary in Baltimore voted to join UFCW Local 27 by an overwhelming margin. The vote comes after 20 the workers, who are employed as cannabis budtenders and leads, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board.

These workers joined our union family to secure fairness, respect, and dignity in their workplace, as well as better wages, improved benefits, and the opportunity for a better life.

“We welcome our sisters and brothers from this dispensary into the UFCW Local 27 family,” said UFCW Local 27 President Jason Chorpenning. “Dispensary workers have a very stressful job and they work very hard to make millions in profits for their employers. They deserve the basic human dignity that all workers deserve and we are thrilled to help them have a chance at a better life.”

In addition to the Health for Life cannabis dispensary unit in Baltimore, UFCW Local 27 recently organized workers at another Health for Life dispensary in White Marsh, Md. UFCW Local 27 also represents cannabis workers at the Zen Leaf dispensary in Towson, Md. and PharmaCann Verilife dispensary in Westminster, Md.  

On March 26, the UFCW responded to Trader Joe’s decision to open a new “grab and go” Pronto store in place of the shuttered Union Square wine shop in New York City.

In 2022, Trader Joe’s workers filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the company after it abruptly closed its only wine shop in New York, alleging the closure was an act of retaliation against workers trying to unionize. The workers also allege that they were illegally interrogated and subjected to coercive statements by management. This past January, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Trader Joe’s and a notice of hearing, demanding Trader Joe’s to reopen the wine shop and reimburse workers for lost wages.

NYC Trader Joe’s Wine Shop Organizing Committee released the following statement:

“Trader Joe’s decision to open a new store in place of its former wine shop, after displacing its former staff without warning, is a giant slap in the face. We are disappointed, but not surprised, to learn that the space has been filled before reopening our shop. While management claims to be searching for a new location to move its successful wine store, they’ve been content to let its former location lay empty for almost two years as an alleged cost-saving measure.”

“We believe Trader Joe’s is doing everything in its power to prevent a profitable unionized shop from reopening. We refuse to let Trader Joe’s continue to get away with their egregious and illegal union-busting tactics.”