Workers unionize at Green Thumb marijuana store in Illinois

Employees at a Green Thumb Industries’ Rise marijuana store in Joliet, Illinois, voted to join Teamsters Local 777.

It’s the second Rise store to unionize in the past two months following an April vote by workers at an outlet in Niles, Illinois, to join the Local 777.

The number of workers at each of the locations wasn’t immediately available.

Nationwide, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has been the primary organization to unionize marijuana workers.

But the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been making inroads recently, especially with Illinois-based multistate operators.

Earlier this year, employees at Zen Leaf (Verano Holdings), Verilife (PharmaCann) and Enlightened Dispensary (Revolution Global) voted to join Teamsters Local 777.

In addition, workers at two Ascend Wellness/Modern Cannabis stores in March ratified their first bargaining agreements, the first Teamsters contracts in the Illinois marijuana industry.

In a news release about the Joliet unionization effort, Peter Finn, Teamsters food processing division director, noted that Green Thumb generated nearly $900 million in revenue in 2021.

“A Teamster contract is essential to ensuring that these workers see their fair share of that revenue,” Finn said.

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/workers-unionize-at-green-thumb-marijuana-store-in-illinois/