RAYTOWN, Mo., Feb. 20, 2024 – PRESS RELEASE – Last week, From the Earth Missouri dispensary workers in Raytown, voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 2 in order to have a voice on the job and secure the benefits that a union contract provides. This 29-person unit is the first cannabis industry unit in the state of Missouri to vote to join UFCW Local 2.
As America’s largest cannabis union, the UFCW has spent over a decade in this emerging industry, advocating for workers and fighting to establish critical labor protections to ensure that, as the industry grows, cannabis industry jobs are safe, equitable and family sustaining.
From The Earth worker Haydn McGrew, who was part of the organizing process, said the following:
“I am proud to say that we won our union election with UFCW. We won because we organized. We organized because it's our right—a right we will now exercise to negotiate our first union contract.
"Our success is thanks to the dedication of our organizing efforts. Together, we represent the spirit of a labor organizing movement sweeping the country. This victory is not just about winning an election; it's about paving the way for a future where workers' value, and their voices, are respected and protected.”
From The Earth worker, Edward Garvin Jr., who was part of the organizing process, said the following:
“The reason I wanted to unionize is for job security, and to make sure, as employees, our voices can be heard. The industry is so new that it opens a lot of options for exploitation. Having a strong union contract helps prevent employers from taking advantage of the very workers who help make this industry so successful.”
