Dispensary workers in Illinois are fed up with what they say are low wages and unfair practices committed by a major dispensary chain. 

Members of Teamsters Local 777 members at three RISE Dispensaries in Chicagoland, a subsidiary of Green Thumb Industries, walked off the job on April 19 at 4:20 p.m. CT to launch an open-ended unfair labor practice (ULP) strike. It’s the largest strike of its kind in the state to date, according to an April 19 press release.

“RISE workers are very grateful for the support and kind words they have received from their fellow Teamsters throughout the country, as well as the Illinois cannabis community,” Matt McQuaid, a Teamster representative, told High Times in an email. “We are still on the picket line.”

Local 777 members say that RISE dispensaries demanded that workers at the Niles location remove pro-union buttons while they were on the job, which is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. The Chicago Tribune reports that the Teamsters planned to strike just before the biggest day in sales for dispensaries. The strike arrives as workers in multiple states push for a higher minimum wage to meet the cost of living.

“The company’s demand that the workers remove their pins is part of a broader pattern of disrespect to their workforce,” stated Jim Glimco, Local 777 President. “GTI is refusing to offer these men and women wages commensurate with the cost of living, or retirement package that is acceptable for Teamsters. It’s far past time this company recognize the people responsible for all of the success it’s had.”

RISE opened 11 dispensaries across the state of Illinois, with six total in the Chicagoland area. WGN 9 reports that RISE Dispensaries parent company, Green Thumb Industries, plans on keeping the stores open despite the impact from the strike.

“These workers deserve prosperous, middle-class careers and they’re willing to fight for it,” stated Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and Food Processing Division Director. “They aren’t walking off the job by themselves. They’re walking onto that picket line as one unified front, with the backing of more than 1.2 million Teamsters throughout North America.”

Several Illinois dispensary workers also chimed in to show their support for better wages that would show their true value.

“We’re focused on creating a high-quality career here and we need a wage that reflects how valuable we are,” stated Reilly Drew, a patient care specialist at the RISE Niles dispensary. “People think of advancing as moving up the ladder, but in this situation, it’s about raising the whole floor up for everyone. We want to make this a prosperous industry because it’s a profitable industry.”

“The forceful removal of these buttons shows us how GTI feels about our movement, and how little they care about us as workers,” said Julie Evans, a patient care specialist at the RISE Rock Creek Boulevard dispensary in Joliet. “I feel that it is extremely unfair, disrespectful, and rude that Niles was forced to remove their insignias while other stores were not. I stand with my fellow Teamsters in solidarity against this unfair labor practice.”

Workers described the risks they encountered that took place during a strike.

“I voted to strike in solidarity with my RISE coworkers over the baseless and uninformed removal of the union button, which was intended to reduce representation in our stores,” said Brandon Basil, a patient care specialist at the Colorado Street RISE dispensary in Joliet. “We’ll fight for a fair contract with more to offer for our incredibly hardworking brothers and sisters in the cannabis industry, including a living wage!”

Teamsters Local 777, est. 1937, represents workers in a wide variety of industries in the Chicago area. For more info, visit their website.

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The cannabis industry is seeing a need for unions as more workers are hired and more states legalize. There is an increasing call from workers for better conditions, wages, and benefits, and unions are getting interested. 

Cannabis is continually bringing in more money for the U.S. economy. In 2020, the industry brought in a total of between $17.5B and $21.3B and provided between 240,000 and 321,000 full-time jobs. It is projected to reach $41B by 2026. As more states come on with legalization these figures could be even higher. 

And already, we are seeing unionization pop up. Modern Cannabis dispensary in Chicago unionized in 2021, and many other businesses in the city have done the same. The first cannabis union contract in Chicago was ratified in March 2022. 

“We’re trying to make these careers for the long term, not just one that is a turnover establishment,” says Alex Suarez, who works at Modern Cannabis. “I think the upswing in organization in this country right now is astonishing and we need to keep going over that energy.”

Tonya Townsend, who worked at a Green Thumb Industries cannabis facility in Rock Creek, Illinois when they pioneered unionizing in 2018 and 2019, saw some backlash to the movement. They failed to unionize, as the vote missed by a 26-30 margin. 

“There was a lot of union busting. They hired the top union avoidance firm in the country,” she says. “We took them on for about a year. It was a lot. It was mental, physical, verbal, daily abuse from these guys – they fought us tooth and nail the whole way. These workers are reaching out to us for help, so that’s unusual. It used to be we were seeking them out and now they’re coming to us. Our phones are ringing constantly with workers who want protection, higher wages, better benefits and accountability from these companies.” 

Unions have also been seeing an uptick in general. Retail has experienced gains in recent years, as 18 of 26 union elections that happened in 2021 are successful. Most of the cannabis unions are from The United Food and Commercial Workers and Teamsters groups, and they are leading even more union campaigns as more legal states and businesses come online. 

“There are plenty of people who are having to choose between feeding themselves and putting gas in their car to get to work, which is just kind of mind-boggling, considering it’s a multibillion-dollar industry,” says Maddi, who worked at Ayr Wellness in Massachusetts in 2018, before unionizing. She is now an organizer at UFCW Local 1445 in Massachusetts.

At this time, six states have statutes that require or encourage labor peace agreements for licensed medical or recreational cannabis businesses.

When recreational cannabis was legalized in New Jersey in February 2021, the law included agreements to protect workers’ union organizing efforts. The UFCW represents most of the cannabis workers.

“We were the first organization and labor union to step up to the plate and say this is a valid industry and these workers should not be treated like criminals,” says Hugh Giordano, organizing director of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 360 in New Jersey. “We hope to have 100% union density before the adult use conditional licenses are up and running.”

Beginning in 2021, 500 workers in the cannabis industry have formed unions with the Teamsters.

“When more states legalize recreational cannabis, we can’t let them simply make more minimum-wage jobs available,” says Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien. “We’re demanding careers, backed and safeguarded by Teamster contracts.”

As of today, the industry is literally growing as we speak, and with an uptick in union activity along with this growth means we will see more unions popping up in the future. 

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On December 29, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328—representing roughly 11,000 Rhode Island and Massachusetts frontline workers—announced a victory for Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center employees in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, preserving their right to openly discuss unions and other workers’ rights.

Like most other industries, workers in medical cannabis operations and dispensaries want employee protections and fair pay. A Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center employee and worker committee member was terminated last June once he was exposed negotiating the first union contract for employees.

After “months of investigations” conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), UFCW Local 328 filed charges against Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center for violating workers’ rights, culminating in the termination of employee and bargaining committee member Ben Telford. 

Other charges include the elimination of employee discounts during a six-week period, the elimination of the Friday lunch program and transfer of bargaining unit work to a new classification. The list of charges continues—including “interrogation, surveillance and disparagement of employees” for their union activity. 

The employees at Greenleaf held a one-day strike planned in a June 26 press release, to protest the illegal firing of Telford, who was illegally terminated for his union activity. UpriseRI arrived on-scene at the protest in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in support of Telford. UpriseRI insisted that CEO Seth Bock reinstate Telford.

After an investigation, the NLRB issued complaints on each of these charges against Greenleaf. Just a day before the trial was set to take place, Greenleaf offered to settle on every complaint.

“Securing justice for Ben was significant because it not only holds the company accountable for breaking the law, but it also sends a message to workers everywhere that they have rights on the job to organize,” UFCW Local 328 Director of Organizing Sam Marvin told High Times. “At UFCW, we are proud to stand with workers to build a better and more secured future and are committed to holding employers accountable when there are injustices at work.”

Rhode Island Greenleaf Cannabis Workers shared the same sentiment. “We are pleased with the results of the investigations from the National Labor Relations Board and the signed commitments we secured in this settlement agreement,” Rhode Island Greenleaf Cannabis Workers said in a joint statement. “We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the NLRB for their hard work during the investigation of numerous labor complaints that were filed against our employer. While we should not have had to experience these unfair labor practices to begin with, it was extremely reassuring to know that we as workers had a formal means of recourse when our employer committed these infractions. While forming a union can be a challenging and arduous process, we know that it is one of the few options we have as workers to create a more stable and predictable future.” 

Rhode Island Greenleaf Cannabis Workers encourage employees in other states to take note.

“We encourage workers to continue to organize with each other both within individual companies and across the industry,” the joint statement continues. “We want to thank UFCW Local 328 for all of its continued support and the resources we’ve been given through this process. We look forward to continuing to build a healthier and secured future for all of us at Greenleaf by completing our first union contract in the near future.”

UFCW Local 328 announced that the new settlement with Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center and its unionized cannabis workers includes the following key items:

• Back pay for employees during a six-week period the company did not extend their employee discount to eligible union voters 
• Back pay for employees affected by the company’s elimination of the Friday lunch program for the past 25 weeks 
• The immediate reinstatement of the Friday lunch program 
• The offer of reinstatement to employee Ben Telford, who was illegally fired by the company in June 2021, with compensation of full back pay for wages, interest and additional compensation 
• The immediate restoration and protection of union bargaining unit work for key stakeholders 
• A signed commitment by the company to not interfere with employees’ rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, to not disparage, surveil, discipline or discharge workers for their union activity, to not create new positions to avoid collective-bargaining obligations, to not transfer work to managers or other employees because of their union activity, and a commitment to bargain in good faith with UFCW Local 328

Per the NLRB settlement agreement, Greenleaf has offered Telford reinstatement to his position and will compensate him with full back pay for all lost wages, interest and additional compensation. 

“We are proud of the workers at Greenleaf for standing together to achieve this victory,” Marvin stated. “It is critical that employers are held accountable when they break the law and violate workers’ rights. This settlement represents a significant achievement for Greenleaf workers in their pursuit for justice and fairness at their workplace, and we look forward to continuing to work together to build the futures they all have earned.”

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