COLUMBIA – As picketers continued to gather outside of Shangri-La Dispensary on Wednesday, some experts believe this is only the beginning of dispensaries attempting to unionize in Missouri.
According to David Cook, president of UFCW Local 655, there has been a surge in interest to unionize in the cannabis industry, after Amendment 3 passed in November. Cook said just within Local 655’s jurisdiction, which includes the eastern third of Missouri, the organization currently has 10 to 15 active campaigns.
Cook said he doesn’t see this slowing down anytime in the near future.
“I don’t think it’s going to cool off,” Cook said. “I think as we continue to build momentum, and we can actually start having an effect through unionization on the area standards for that industry, I think the sky’s the limit.”
The main reason for this, according to Cook, is because many ownership groups are placing unrealistic demands on this new workforce. Moreover, often times workers don’t get the respect and dignity on the job that they deserve.
“I think some people out there would walk into a dispensary today and think of it as a typical retail shop, and it’s really not,” Cook said. “You can’t go work at a Dollar General and then go work at a dispensary. You have to be educated and knowledgeable of the entire industry and all of the products.”
Picketers first began gathering outside of Shangri-La’s south Columbia location on Tuesday for similar reasons and continued on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Benjamin Franklin, the store’s former assistant manager, said he believes unionizing would help ensure employees get respect on the job.
“A union would be able to tell them to step off a little bit, to let those workers breathe, to not punish them as if they’ve done nothing wrong for all they’re doing is voicing their support for unionizing,” Franklin said.
Franklin claims 11 employees were unfairly fired from Shangri-La after attempting to unionize.
Shangri-La owner Nevil Patel denied the claim and said they are not blocking any form of unionization and that he supports the workers’ right to unionize. He said the company’s legal team is working to schedule an employee vote on whether or not to unionize.