Cannabis workers are fighting for their rights

The movement to unionize workers in the US is growing as well, and the US cannabis industry is growing by leaps and bounds.

There are more than 158 million Americans who live in places where marijuana is legal. It is estimated that the cannabis industry sales will reach a value of $57 million by the year 2030.

The union United Food Commercial Workers UFCW has been working to defend and organize cannabis workers since 2010 and claims to represent tens of thousands of them in 23 states.

UFCW President Anthony Perrone told Forbes: "Our union, including UFCW locals and members, have changed the course of legalization efforts for the better, helping to make sure worker protections are included in legislation and shaping the industry from the ground up." He said that UFCW is ready to fight for them and to create a safer, more inclusive industry, where there are cannabis workers interested in organizing.

What are the positions of a cannabis worker? The union welcomed processors, budtenders, chefs, lab workers, growers, and delivery personnel into its ranks.

For her part, LaQuita Honeysucker, UFCW's director of civil rights and community engagement, said: This is an industry that is very lucrative, and unionization benefits both sides. We need to make sure that these jobs are family-sustaining and that workers feel safe on the job. There's stability for mom and pop shops with a union contract. You got built-in pay increases at a certain amount and at certain times. The campaign called Cannabis Organizing aims to increase worker voices, break stigma around the plant, increase the number of minority cannabis licenses, and increase equity in this nascent industry.

In an interview with journalist Richard Fowler, Frederika McClary Easley, a member of the women-led company The People's Ecosystem TPE that seeks to empower communities through cannabis, said that the marijuana industry is a microcosm of the current economic system, riddled with inherent racial barriers to entry.

The Black, Latino, and indigenous communities have shown how profitable it can be, and the current ownership and leadership reflect their contribution. 80% of the industry is owned by white people, mainly men, said McClary Easley.

A report by the Economic Policy Institute stressed the importance of unionization for the industry to become a model of good jobs.

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