Unions are non-profit organizations that bring working people together to negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions with their employer.
American workers have the right to unionize and the numbers don’t lie — when workers organize, they see better wages, benefits, and working conditions.
THE UNION DIFFERENCE
TIKUN TEAMSTERS RATIFY FIRST CONTRACT: JOB SECURITY, HIGHER WAGES, AND RESPECT ON THE JOB!
On December 21, 2021, cannabis workers at Tikun in Adelanto, CA became the first cultivation workers in the Inland Empire with a union contract!
HIGHER STANDARDS FOR CANNABIS WORKERS:
TEAMSTERS UNION INTRODUCES CANNABIS CULTIVATION TRAINING PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE!
Teamsters Local 1932, a labor union of over 14,000 members across Southern California’s Inland Empire region, has announced the availability of twenty scholarships for a new cannabis cultivation training certification program based out of the union’s new training center in San Bernardino.
LEARN MORE HERE!
or email Abe Gallegos at agallegos@teamsters1932.org
The Economic Policy Institute published a report in September 2021 titled, “Ensuring the High Road in Cannabis.” The report details how unionization ensures that cannabis jobs are good jobs. Check out key findings from the report below, or read the entire report here:
Cannabis cultivation workers could, on average, make an estimated $7,030 more in annual wages under a high-road scenario than under a low-road scenario. Cannabis cultivation workers who are union members have negotiated strong wage floors, regularly scheduled wage increases, and a slew of workplace benefits that are largely absent in most farmworker jobs, which are largely nonunionized. Under a high-road scenario, they retain those rights. But under a low-road scenario, they become more like workers in agriculture, who are often contract workers paid per piece by outsourcing firms, and who are subject to wage theft, unpaid overtime, subminimum wages, and other abusive wage and hour practices, in part because the federal labor laws and administrative structures that are supposed to protect them are in desperate need of reform.
Cannabis processing workers could, on average, make an estimated $8,690 more in annual wages under a high-road scenario than under a low-road scenario. Unionized workers in traditional manufacturing jobs similar to cannabis processing and extraction roles have wages, on average, 23.6%–28.0% higher than similar nonunion workers. For the average full-time, nonunion worker in these jobs, this implies an earnings increase of nearly $8,700 from unionization. Furthermore, manufacturing jobs generally provide greater access to workplace benefits than jobs in other occupations—a legacy, in part, of unions’ ability to set standards in manufacturing industries.
Cannabis retail workers could, on average, make an estimated $2,810 more in annual wages under a high-road scenario than under a low-road scenario. Most traditional retail jobs pay very low wages and offer few benefits. The exception to that rule occurs where employers have intentionally adopted high road strategies, where states or localities have adopted strong job quality standards, or where retail workers are unionized. Unionized retail workers in jobs similar to cannabis retail jobs are paid wages, on average, 7.6%–10.7% higher than similar non-unionized retail workers. This equates to about a $2,800 annual pay difference for the average nonunion retail worker.
Want to learn more? There is a great wealth of research on the union difference for workers. Check out some of the links below to get informed:
UC Berkeley Labor Center: “The Union Effect in California” is a three-part series outlining the importance of unions when it comes to raising standards for workers and communities
The Union Effect in California #1: Wages, Benefits, and Use of Public Safety Net Programs
The Union Effect in California #2: Gains for Women, Workers of Color, and Immigrants
The Union Effect in California #3: A Voice for Workers in Public Policy