Marijuana Business Magazine - April 2018

FERTILE GROUND Unfair labor practices include: • Firing or demoting employees who are pro-union. • Threatening pro-union employ- ees with a loss of employment or benefits. • Promising benefits to those who reject the union. • Granting new benefits or with- holding planned benefits to influ- ence a union vote. • Seeking information about workers’ positions through spying, coercive questions or monitoring emails. Also, if employees are allowed to discuss matters unrelated to their jobs during work hours, employers shouldn’t bar them from talking about I t’s easy to see why unions hope to expand their numbers by organizing the rapidly growing can- nabis industry. In 2017, just 10.7% of the U.S. workforce belonged to a union, down from almost a quarter of all workers in 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About a third of union members work in the public sector, not private companies, according to the BLS. “Several unions are already actively trying to organize employees in the cannabis industry and see the expansion of legalization as an impor- tant opportunity to expand their membership,” said attorney Gina Roccanova, a principal in the Oakland office of Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson. Unions already can boast of some successes within the cannabis industry. The United Food and Commercial Workers union claims it represents “tens of thousands” of MJ workers in multiple states. In 2015, for example, employees at Stoney Brothers, a mari- juana dispensary in Portland, Oregon, voted to join United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555. Also that year, workers at Minnesota Medical Solutions (MinnMed), a medical marijuana business, joined UFCW Local 1189. More union successes have occurred since then. In January 2017, for example, the unionized employees at MinnMed – one of the two lic ensed medical marijuana businesses in Minnesota – unanimously ratified a three-year contract with the company. MinnMed is a unit of MMJ business Vireo Health, which in September 2016 signed what it claimed was the first cannabis-related union contract in New York. Not every attempt to unionize has been successful. In April 2016, only three of the employees at Pueblo West Organics in Colorado, voted to join UFCW Local 7, resulting in a loss for the union. Not only are they seeking members, but unions also have been strong proponents of efforts to legal- ize marijuana at the local, state and federal levels. A case in point: In 2011, UFCW Local 7 fought a ban on medical marijuana in Fort Collins, Colorado. In November 2012, voters overturned the ban. Currently, California and NewYork are believed to be the only states that require labor peace agree- ments in the cannabis industry, according to attor- neys. A labor peace agreement can be the first step toward unionization. Will other states follow suit? “Oh, to have a reliable crystal ball,” said Roccanova. “We can expect that both unions and the industry will be lobbying state legislatures on the issue of labor peace agreements.” – John Rebchook union-related issues, she said. Another thing to avoid is signing an agreement with ambiguous language. “We strongly caution employers against agreeing to overbroad terms that may result in unnecessary bur- den and disruption to the business,” according to Nelson and Conti. “For example, we would generally counsel against agreeing to interest arbitration, successorship (requiring a potential future owner to abide by the terms of the agreement) or terms that seek to extend the agreement to suppliers and industry partners that are not covered by the employer’s license.” The pair added: “Additionally, employers should avoid vague terms that govern organizing and union rec- ognition.This means clearly defining the campaign period, the modes by which the employees may select the union and how long authorization cards remain valid.” Nelson and Conti also warned that not being specific can have long-lasting consequences. “The failure to define these terms may result in uncertain union campaigns last- ing in perpetuity,” they noted. At the same time, don’t panic. Instead, take a deep breath and relax. “Businesses appear a bit over- whelmed by the (labor peace) require- ment at first,” Vaniman said. “But once they learn about what it is and have a solid attorney on their side, they know that it’s a requirement that can be met and won’t create too much undue bur- den on their licensing procedure.” ◆ Gina Roccanova is a principal in the Oakland office of Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson. She serves as the chair of the firm’s labor and employment practice group. Photo courtesy of Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson 80 • Marijuana Business Magazine • April 2018