A bill to permit collective bargaining by cannabis agricultural workers was supported by claims it may help worker conditions, but opposed by those who felt the cannabis sector was singled out.
Here are some observations from the Wednesday January 15th Washington State House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee (WA House LAWS) Committee Meeting.
My top 3 takeaways:
- Committee members learned the background of HB 1141, “Concerning collective bargaining for agricultural cannabis workers” (audio - 2m, video - TVW)
- Unionizing and collective bargaining by employees of cannabis businesses had been an issue getting more attention as the industry took root.
- A 2019 bill heard late in the session involved cannabis businesses and labor-peace agreements. Sponsoring Senator Rebecca Saldaña indicated that the proposal wouldn’t “guarantee that the workers will choose a union” but would’ve allowed them to do so more freely. That same year, cannabis shop Have a Heart became the first state retailer to unionize.
- In 2022, former budtender Cody Funderberk relayed their experiences working to unionize Ponder Cannabis in Seattle, including resistance from the licenseholder, to City Councilmembers looking into cannabis social equity. That summer, the union appointee to the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF) alleged “anti-union” activity by that same retailer.
- The union representing cannabis workers in Washington State was UFCW 3000. A representative of the group asserted that “unionized workplaces…are safer due to the fact that, typically, unionized workers tend to report safety and health violations at [a] high rate,”when speaking to the Washington State Organized Retail Crime Task Force in May 2023.
- In September 2024, Amirah Ziada, UFCW 3000 Cannabis Organizing Coordinator and former WA SECTF member, called for changes in rulemaking to implement SB 5080 related to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) social equity program. That November, the group’s External Relations Chief of Staff Sarah Cherin addressed the board over what she viewed as disparate treatment by Enforcement and Education staff around Cantanna Fest, a concert the union helped sponsor.
- In the hearing, Committee Counsel Ben McCarthy reviewed the bill analysis, and explained that HB 1141:
- Creates collective bargaining procedures for certain agricultural workers involved with cannabis production and processing.
- Authorizes the Public Employment Relations Commission to administer and enforce these procedures.
- Unionizing and collective bargaining by employees of cannabis businesses had been an issue getting more attention as the industry took root.
- Sponsoring Representative Lillian Ortiz-Self and six individuals testified in favor of the bill, claiming benefits would accrue to cannabis agricultural workers.
- Ortiz-Self, also a member of WA House LAWS, remarked that HB 1141 was a “simple bill in that it corrects an inequity.” She suggested that non-agricultural cannabis workers “currently have the right to advocate for safety and fairness in their workplace, except for our cannabis agricultural workers.” By allowing such staff to collectively bargain, she said the bill would bring “them up to par with the other workers, something that is way overdue, and I just urge your support” (audio - 1m, video - TVW).
- Representative Joel McEntire noted that he’d heard all agricultural workers were left out of federal collective bargaining laws, so “why bring this benefit to such a small section” of cannabis workers? Ortiz-Self replied that this was “taking up the fight” of a much bigger issue. She shifted to note cannabis legalization policy “tr[ied] to correct a wrong from the past…I think it's time that, that we prioritize and try to fix what we've done wrong for so many years” (audio - 2m, video - TVW).
- Libby Rindal, Lilac City Gardens Co-Owner (audio - 2m, video - TVW)
- A cannabis producer/processor since 2018, Rindal shared she was “in strong support of the Washington Cannabis Workers Club” (WCWC) because the cannabis sector “can and must do better for its workers.” Noting agricultural workers’ exemption from the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), she said this left those who supplied cannabis in Washington “unable to organize and advocate for basic workplace rights. I believe this is a deeply flawed system.”
- “I know some may wonder why a business owner would support this legislation,” but Rindal claimed it was “about recognizing the broader structural challenges in our industry.” While small businesses could struggle to provide for workers, “I believe this legislation creates a pathway to address those gaps, ensuring that cannabis agricultural workers have access to the tools they need to build stable and secure futures.” Helping all parts of the cannabis market thrive was “a step toward creating a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable industry, one where workers are valued and empowered,” said Rindal.
- Nathan Howell (audio - 2m, video - TVW)
- Describing himself as “a maintenance worker with experience in the cannabis industry,” Howell told the committee HB 1141 was important for workers like him.
- “When I worked at Phat Panda, I saw firsthand the need for better wages, safer workplace, and fair treatment” as he helped to organize workers at the business. “Unfortunately, my employer didn't see it that way, and they terminated me for organizing,” he explained. Howell said, “we filed an unfair labor practice charge, and we won. I was reinstated with back pay and damages, but my employer continues to fight that decision.” The situation helped him appreciate the difficulty his fellow workers had in establishing unions, in particular agricultural workers excluded under the NLRA.
- Calling the situation “heartbreaking,” Howell didn’t want to see the “backbone” of the licensed cannabis sector unable to collectively bargain, leading him to support HB 1141 to “extend the same protections I fought for to cannabis agricultural workers, ensuring they have the right to organize and advocate for better conditions.” He lauded the WCWC for their help creating the bill and urged lawmakers to pass the measure to “ensure that no worker in this industry is left behind.”
- Mike Asai, Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) Vice President and Emerald City Collective Gardens Founder (audio - 3m, video - TVW)
- Asai testified that BEC’s was “a mission born out of the struggle, resilience and hope of people who have endured far too much.” With a goal to “advance racial and economic justice in the cannabis industry,” he said HB 1141 represented “more than a policy proposal. It is a moral imperative, a call to correct the legacy of injustice” for cannabis workers. He argued that “Black and Brown communities bore the brunt of the cannabis criminalization…Now, as this industry flourished, many of the same communities find themselves working the fields, cultivating the very plant that once was used as a weapon against them.” Asai viewed “safer working conditions, and the basic rights of health care and retirement” not as privileges for workers, but as “fundamental rights.”
- “Let us not forget, this bill is about equity,” Asai stated, “House Bill 1141 ensures that the workers, many from the communities most harmed by prohibition are no longer silent. It gives them a seat at the table and the tools to advocate for themselves and their families.” He insisted the bill provided legislators a “moment to build an industry that reflects the values of…justice, fairness, and opportunity.”
- Morgan (audio - 2m, video - TVW) and Jess Combs (audio - 1m, video - TVW)
- A married couple who were both former Phat Panda employees discussed their experience unionizing at the company. Morgan Combs noted he learned his wife was excluded as an agricultural worker during the effort, and Jess Combs suggested these workers “face the same unsafe conditions, low pay, and lack of job security as others in the industry, but under current law, we can't organize to do anything about it. That exclusion isn't just unfair, it undermines the entire industry.”
- Dustin Lambro, UFCW 3000 Political and Legislative Director (audio - 2m, video - TVW)
- Thanking Ortiz-Self for sponsoring the bill, Lambro asserted there was a “two tiered system in the cannabis industry where some workers can organize and improve their conditions, while others simply don't have the right to.” He noted that Washington State passed worker rights legislation in 1919, before the NLRA was passed in 1935. While the NRLA didn’t include agricultural workers, he argued “critically, it did not preempt states from stepping in to grant those rights themselves…It's time to protect workers in this industry who don't have a voice.”
- In addition to the eight people testifying, 179 registered their support of HB 1141 (Testifying, Not Testifying).
- Ortiz-Self, also a member of WA House LAWS, remarked that HB 1141 was a “simple bill in that it corrects an inequity.” She suggested that non-agricultural cannabis workers “currently have the right to advocate for safety and fairness in their workplace, except for our cannabis agricultural workers.” By allowing such staff to collectively bargain, she said the bill would bring “them up to par with the other workers, something that is way overdue, and I just urge your support” (audio - 1m, video - TVW).
- Four people were against the measure including representatives of cannabis business owners and broader agricultural interests who seemed concerned about setting a precedent that could be extended to other agricultural workers.
- Vicki Christophersen, Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) Executive Director (audio - 2m, video - TVW)
- Explaining that WACA represented licensees in every part of the industry including production, she stated, “literally, every single one of them in the State of Washington is a small business. There is no big business in cannabis.” She said that despite “the sales numbers you see for cannabis, very few businesses in this industry operate with a…profit margin, and producers, the growers, are struggling the most under a frustrating oversupply of products and prices that have dipped extremely low, so low we have trouble competing with the illicit market.”
- Asserting that “hundreds” of producer licenses were dormant due to the situation, Christophersen remarked there was “a long history and significant policy reasons behind the restrictions surrounding agriculture, labor laws and…those issues apply to cannabis as well.” She advised keeping cannabis workers “on the same playing field as our peers in the wheat, hops, and apple growers in Washington State.”
- Mike Gempler, Washington Growers League Executive Director (audio - 1m, video - TVW)
- Gempler’s stated opposition to HB 1141 was due to concerns it set a bad precedent for agricultural union election processes with “provisions that allow for a card check process instead of a secret ballot election to be used to determine representation.” He suggested these checks were “susceptible to manipulation and coercion, as evidenced by the allegations this past year in 2024 of workers in California being tricked into signing union cards.” Gempler indicated that his organization backed secret ballots for any voting related to representation, promising “we'll work with you in support of a truly democratic process.”
- Representative Alex Ybarra noted that he’d been a third generation farm worker in central Washington, and reflected that “most of the folks I talked to…don't want to unionize and haven't wanted to unionize. So the question is, will this open up the avenue for unions where farm workers may not want them?” (audio - 2m, video - TVW)
- “I think it would if it applied to agriculture in general, and I assume that that's where the committee is going ultimately,” Gempler responded, acknowledging it would be up to workers if they wanted to unionize. But since there was “a history of coercion on both sides,” he stressed the importance of prioritizing secret ballots. “So the answer is basically yes, it will, but the employees need to have a choice, and…I assume they would have a choice and they can vote their conscience.”
- Scott Dilley, Worker and Farmer Labor Association (WAFLA) Public Affairs Director (audio - 1m, video - TVW)
- With concerns similar to Gempler, Dilley also wanted secret ballots for electing union representatives so workers could “privately vote their consciences and not have to declare a position publicly.” He advised only moving the measure forward once this change was made.
- Ezra Eickmeyer, Producers Northwest Founder (audio - 1m, video - TVW)
- Eickmeyer noted he was also the “founder and CEO of a tier three producer processor operation” and maintained that his members had “a high value for labor, and we believe in, in workers’ right to unionize if they so choose.”
- However, he opposed HB 1141 because it singled out cannabis as an industry, claiming previous bills also tried to place requirements on license holders that weren’t present in collective bargaining processes for other sectors. “Some of the bills even put provisions in that we'd lose our licenses if we didn't comply with certain provisions,” he stated.
- While some of their members “want a union, others are not so sure. It's all over the place.” Eickmeyer suggested the measure gave “power to this [Public Employment Relations] Commission to create penalties on us, which may go back to threatening our very existence as a business if we don't comply. No other industry has to deal with that.”
- Written comments opposing the bill were also submitted by the Washington Cannabis Licensee Association (WCLA), which stated that unionizing “can increase operating costs for small businesses by demanding wages and benefits beyond what the business can afford. Union negotiations and compliance can divert time and resources making it harder for small enterprises to remain competitive or even in business.”
- Citizen John Kingsbury signed up as ‘other,’ meaning he was neither for nor against the legislation, but was unavailable when called upon to testify (audio - <1m, video - TVW).
- Cannabis Observer reached out to Kingsbury who shared his written testimony which detailed a potential statutory conflict in RCW 82.04.213(4) where “During 2015, the Legislature decided that cannabis is not agriculture.”
- In addition to the four people testifying, 188 registered their opposition to HB 1141 (Testifying, Not Testifying).
- Vicki Christophersen, Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) Executive Director (audio - 2m, video - TVW)
Automation Disclosure - Transcription (Edited)
Transcription
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