Blog

On Nov. 2, cannabis workers at the Curaleaf dispensary in Mokena, Ill., joined UFCW Local 881 for a better life. These new members of our union family voted to join UFCW Local 881 by an overwhelming margin because they were concerned about insufficient wages and benefits.  Curaleaf is one of the largest multi-state cannabis companies and currently operates 10 dispensaries in Illinois.

“I work for one of the one of the largest cannabis companies in the United States, yet make about the same wage as an Amazon worker,” said Patrick Vinson, who is a patient care specialist at Curaleaf Mokena. “Our CEO buys a $14 million dollar mansion in Florida, while denying his workers a living wage. This industry is new and growing and I believe it is important for us to protect the workers, the backbone of this industry, by unionizing our workplaces.”

“I can say from the bottom of my heart that I believe every dispensary, cultivation site, and processing facility should be unionizing for proper wage increases and benefits as this industry continues to boom,” Vinson added. “Today, my coworkers and I from Curaleaf Mokena came together to make sure we have just as much of a voice about our workplace as the shareholders do. Union strong!”

“Nearly a year into legalization, cannabis workers across Illinois are starting to see the underbelly of working in the industry,” said UFCW Local 881 President Steve Powell. “Dispensary workers report low wages, lack of benefits, significant scheduling issues, favoritism, and union-busting. Although the cannabis products and environment seem progressive and cutting edge, the cannabis industry business methods are direct from the old school big corporation playbook, doing all they can to make a buck, while squeezing their employees. The cannabis industry needs to be held accountable for how they treat their workers, and the best way to do that is for cannabis workers to join Local 881!”

UFCW Local 881 represents cannabis workers across Illinois, including Ascend Dispensary in Springfield,  Windy City Cannabis in Chicago,  Cresco Labs in Joliet,  and Sunnyside cannabis dispensaries in Champaign and Lakeview.

On Nov. 22, the UFCW announced its support for the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act. This new legislation from U.S. Senator Cory Booker (New Jersey) and U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (California) will strengthen worker safety, help increase transparency, and support American jobs as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reveal widespread challenges across the food supply chain.

“Today’s introduction of the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act by Senator Booker and Representative Khanna is a critical step toward strengthening protections in these plants, increasing consumer protections, and holding the industry accountable,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone in a statement. “Americans deserve to know that their food is safe, made here in the United States, and comes from American workers who are protected on the job.”

The Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act comes as a new Congressional investigation revealed that there have now been at least 59,000 meatpacking worker COVID-19 infections and at least 269 meatpacking worker COVID-19 deaths. Key provisions of the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act will:

•           Stop dangerous line speed increases by preventing the U.S. Department of Agriculture from issuing any line speed waivers unless meat and poultry plants show that an increase in line speeds will not adversely impact worker safety. Inspections must include:

o          Analysis of all jobs which may experience an increase in working pace.

o          Assessment of rates of musculoskeletal disorders among workers.

o          Steps the establishment is taking to mitigate those disorders.

o          Review of the impact of any proposed line speed increases on the pace of work.

•           Strengthen health and safety with a new U.S. Department of Labor standard which includes information on hazard identification and control, employee training on occupational risk factors, and measures to prevent delays of medical treatment referrals following a workplace injury or illness

•           Expand safety inspections of meat and poultry plants which will cover multiple aspects of worker safety, including amputation hazards, hazards related to line speeds, bathroom breaks, use of certain antimicrobials, and temperatures of work sites. This legislation allows inspections to be expanded to all areas of the meat or poultry plant when information is presented regarding additional possible dangers.

•           Provide new funding for safety inspectors to ensure that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has the resources necessary to hire additional staff to perform regular evaluations of the safety of working conditions in plants.

•           Strengthen protections from retaliation over safety concerns to ensure employees can refuse to perform work duties under conditions of reasonable apprehension and sets up a system wherein employees may file a complaint in the event retaliation has occurred, while also outlining the process by which complaints will be reviewed.

•           Create new pandemic safety reporting to be established by the U.S. Department of Labor and used in future pandemics. The new reporting will require meat or poultry plants to report the number of employees who have become ill, their racial demographics, and their employment status, and requires that this information be made publicly available.

•           Restore country of origin labeling on a mandatory basis for beef and pork products to ensure consumers know where this food comes from and can trust that it is safe and made by American workers.

More information about the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act is available here.