In 2015, a cannabis farm in Southwest Washington became the first location where the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health observed, documented, and gathered data to potentially create federal guidelines for worker safety in the medical marijuana sector.
Situated here in Brush Prairie, Vancouver.
The Health Hazard Evaluation department of NIOSH, which stands for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and is a part of the Centers for Disease Control, has worked together with multiple marijuana companies to recognize potential hazards and establish safety procedures for workers in the cannabis industry.
In August 2015, scientists from the Federal Government's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) - part of the Industrial Hygienic Research Team within the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) - visited 'Farmer Tom Organics' https://www.farmertomorganics.com/ in Vancouver, WA.
They conducted a three-day onsite assessment to gain insights into the Cannabis Industry, in preparation for the inaugural official Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) scheduled for October 2015.
A team of four researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have descended on Farmer Tom Lauerman medical marijuana operation east of Vancouver to watch, chronicle and collect data that could be used to develop federal best practice standards for workers in the marijuana industry. The team has never set foot on any legal marijuana operation. Until now, they only exposure has been in a lab setting at the University of Mississippi.
Farmer Tom and some of his workers were equipped with electronic air sniffers by researchers to examine the air quality in the greenhouses and processing facility during their work. Additionally, a specialized glove with sensors connected to a laptop was used by the researchers to monitor the repetitive hand movements of workers trimming marijuana buds.
In 2024, the focus on worker safety has become a pressing issue for tens of thousands of cannabis workers nationwide, including those in dispensaries, labs, delivery services, kitchens, manufacturing, processing facilities, grow operations, and more. This emphasis is aimed at helping workers attain improved wages, protection from unjust treatment, and comprehensive benefits through union agreements.
However, once employees start making progress in establishing a union, cannabis companies launch aggressive anti-union campaigns to suppress the initiative.
When a worker attempted to unionize a Curaleaf branch in Arizona, the company responded aggressively. Allegedly, management warned employees that they would forfeit their tips if they joined the union and attempted to intimidate them by claiming that union representatives would visit their homes to pressure them into signing union cards. In the end, the worker claims she was terminated due to her unionization activities.
Up to now, there have been a few achievements.
In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom enacted a law mandating cannabis retail establishments with 20 or more employees to establish a labor peace agreement within 60 days. Similarly, New Jersey implemented a requirement for license holders in the adult-use cannabis industry to engage in a collective bargaining agreement with a union within 200 days of commencing operations, under the threat of substantial fines from the state's union-centric Cannabis Regulatory Commission.
In April 2021, legislation was signed by Virginia’s former Governor Ralph Northam, granting the state’s incoming Cannabis Control Authority the authority to revoke licenses from any cannabis business that fails to stay impartial as its employees seek to unionize.
In June 2021, UFCW praised Connecticut for passing a law on adult-use cannabis, which mandates that individuals in the industry must establish a labor peace agreement before obtaining a license.
References
Cannabis Workers Resource Page
Farmer Tom Lauerman
Why Cannabis Industry Workers Struggle to Organize
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