Workers at Connecticut’s largest cannabis cultivation facility have voted to form a union, the second such union to organize at a state cannabis cultivation facility.
More than 70 workers at CTPharma’s cannabis cultivation facility in Rocky Hill have voted June 13 to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 919, union officials said, adding that the vote was ratified later in the month.
The Rocky Hill facility, owned by Illinois-based Verano, is Connecticut’s largest cannabis growing operation. It comprises 216,000 square feet and includes cannabis plants in all stages of development, as well as the facility to process baked goods, gummies, vape cartridges and more.
Workers were particularly concerned with higher wages, improving benefits and securing workplace protections, according to a release issued by the union this week.
“Workers are concerned that this is a new industry in Connecticut, and they want to make sure that they have a voice that matters at work and that this industry is equitable for the workers, too,” said UFCW Director of Organizing Emily Sabo. “So whatever that looks like, with how automation changes will end up affecting the cannabis industry inevitably, just like every other industry, they want to have those workplace protections and those conversations and the ability to talk about those things with their employer.”
The union includes workers in all areas of the facility, Sabo said, from cultivation “all the way up through processing manufacturing the gummies, the kitchen.”
This is the second such cannabis union to form in Connecticut. Forty eight workers at Advanced Grow Labs in West Haven joined the UFCW in March.
“A lot of these workers have worked when they were just a medical facility and now they've converted to adult use, and they see how the market is changing,” Sabo said. “These are more senior workers who have been through the industry for a while.”
Connecticut law includes a provision that requires a “labor peace agreement” as a condition of full licensure for cannabis businesses. Sabo explained that while every cannabis establishment in Connecticut is required to have a labor peace agreement, that does not mean a union will form, though it’s more likely to happen.
“A labor peace agreement means that an operator will remain neutral and fair if workers want to form a union,” she said. “In return, the union agrees and the workers are agreeing not to picket, no work stoppages, strikes, etc., in exchange for the neutrality.”
