By Ariel D. Cudkowicz and Adrienne Lee
Seyfarth Synopsis: Staff at a hashish cultivation facility Cresco Labs in Massachusetts lately made an surprising and important choice: they selected to say goodbye to their union membership simply shy of the expiration of their first contract in June 2024.
Again in November 2020, gardeners, shift leaders, and different farm staff at Cresco's Fall River facility joined Native 328 United Meals and Industrial Employees (UFCW). Out of twenty unionized workers, eighteen determined they have been higher off with out the union and selected decertification as a substitute of negotiating a brand new contract. They felt that the union dues they have been paying didn’t absolutely match the modest wage will increase and advantages they have been receiving.
Since parting methods with the union, these workers are incomes extra. Gardeners make $20 an hour as a substitute of the $19 they obtained beneath the union, and gardeners earn $22.50 an hour, up from $21. As well as, they’re now eligible to obtain inventory I develop as a part of their compensation package deal.
This decertification is believed to be the primary of its form within the hashish trade. It’s a little out of the odd, contemplating the profitable development of the work group lately on this space. It reveals that Cresco workers have considered their relationship with their union and determined that they might do extra by working immediately with Cresco. Seyfarth will monitor this growth for additional updates, together with the potential penalties such a transfer might have on the unionized hashish workplaces of Cresco and different employers.
