Oregon Cannabis Workers Look To Voters To Allow Them To Unionize

Following a failed bill to unionize cannabis workers last year, a labor union is now promoting a similar November ballot measure. They want to make it easier for cannabis workers to join unions.

Measure 119 Proposes Labor Peace Agreements In Cannabis Industry

Union representatives say federal labor law is murky when it comes to cannabis workers because the federal status of marijuana is that it is illegal to possess or sell.

To sidestep the National Labor Relations Act, employers made attempts to classify cannabis employees as agricultural workers but the act doesn’t cover farm workers.

A teacher at Lewis & Clark Law School, Keith Cunningham-Parmeter, said under current law there is nothing to stop retailer workers from organizing.

Still, Miles Eshaia- a spokesperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, said there have been employers who argued that cannabis is illegal in terms of federal laws while others attempted to block workers’ unionization efforts by using the confusion between retail and agricultural classifications.

Measure 119 seeks to keep cannabis business employers neutral as union organizers communicate with workers by entering into labor peace agreements.

Erik Lukens, spokesperson for the statewide business lobbyist Oregon Business & Industry, highlighted the organization’s previous criticisms of the 2023 cannabis unionization bill, House Bill 3183, which died in committee.

The group argued that a major provision of the bill, the labor peace agreement, would almost certainly face a legal challenge under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The group has not taken a position on Measure 119, possibly because much of its political energy is being directed to defeating Measure 118, the measure seeking to raise corporate taxes significantly to fund $1,600 a year to Oregonians.

If passed, Measure 119 cannabis sellers or processers without a labor peace agreement could find their licenses or certificates suspended or revoked. Thousands of dollars in fines could also be levied by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission if businesses don’t comply.

Proposed Oregon Bill Could Help Regulate Cannabis Industry

A year after Oregon residents voted to legalize the recreational use, possession, and sale of cannabis, sales started in 2015. Annual sales have exceeded $1 billion in the industry’s best years.

Labor peace agreements have found their way into California the California Department Of Cannabis Control shows one example of how the arrangements work sometimes.

Californian licensees are obliged to enter into labor peace agreements and may not interfere with efforts by the labor organization to communicate with or organize workers.

They also have to give unions access to work sites. In California, labor organizations agree not to engage in picketing, work stoppages, and other practices that could interfere with the applicant’s business.

The Oregon ballot measure doesn’t include the restriction on labor practices such as picketing but businesses in Oregon face the problem of an oversupply of cannabis and too many businesses with low demand.

Last month, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission reported sales of about $84 million, down from the peak of $111 million in April 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because of the oversupply, the price of cannabis products has dropped steadily since sales were legalized a decade ago.

The Oregon Workers Political Action Campaign (PAC) has received almost $413,000 of in-kind donations from UFCW Local 555 for materials to support the measure. Business interests opposed last year’s similar bill but so far, Measure 119 hasn’t drawn any organized opposition.