The cannabis market in the United States has exploded in recent years, with total retail sales from medicinal and recreational marijuana projected to exceed $50 billion per year within the next three years. Recreational marijuana is now legal in 24 states, and three more have legalization initiatives on the ballot this November. Sales from recreational marijuana alone surpassed $30 billion last year.
However, the workers who create that value often labor for low wages and in dangerous conditions. Many are fighting to unionize and collectively bargain for better contracts. Over 15,000 cannabis workers have already joined locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), and UFCW organizing efforts are ongoing at dozens more cannabis facilities nationwide.
"Cannabis workers are interested in and want to explore and try out their union rights, their labor rights, their ability to collectively bargain a contract," says Sean Shannon, lead organizer with UFCW 655, which represents workers in Missouri. "They want to be in this industry in the long run, and they see this as the best option to do it," Shannon told Truthout.
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