California
California’s pot industry has a ‘fake union’ problem
Cannabis farmworkers surveys marijuana plants at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2023.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
It looks like it’s time to add “fake unions” to the long list of problems facing California’s multibillion-dollar legal pot industry.
Some of the biggest legal cannabis companies in California appear to be violating state law by working with organizations that claim to be labor groups but are accused of not actually attempting to fight for workers’ rights.
California law requires any pot company with more than 20 employees to sign a labor peace agreement with a “bona fide” labor union. The law is intended to provide workers with easier access to labor organizations that can petition the company for better wages and working conditions.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
However, at least three of the biggest pot companies in the state have been caught working with a “fake union” called Professional Technical Union Local 33, or Pro-Tech, according to MJBizDaily. Last month, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board determined that Pro-Tech was “not a bona fide labor organization” because they made no discernible effort to organize or represent any employees in the cannabis industry and even failed to have a physical presence in California.
The board ultimately determined that Pro-Tech and the companies it contracted with had entered into a “sham relationship” in order to skirt the state law.
The list of companies working with Pro-Tech includes: Nabis, one of the biggest distribution companies in the state; Herbl, a major distributor that recently went out of business; and Glass House Brands, one of the biggest pot farming companies in the state, according to MJBizDaily.
The complaint against Pro-Tech was filed by the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters, a union that represents more than a million workers in North America. Peter Finn, a vice president at the Teamsters, told SFGATE in a phone interview that these sham unions hurt the rights of California’s cannabis industry workers.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Cannabis farmworkers de-stem cannabis product prior to packaging at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2023.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
“This is not just about a labor peace agreement, this is about a worker’s ability to form a union to improve their wages, benefits and working conditions,” Finn said. “These fake unions and employers that engage with them are undermining the law and the will of the people.”
Last month, the Teamsters filed a second complaint, alleging that a union called the National Agricultural Workers Union was also “not a bona fide labor organization.” According to the Teamsters, the National Agricultural Workers Union has agreements with Caliva, a cannabis company owned by The Parent Company since 2021, an SEC filing shows. Rapper Jay-Z is an investor in The Parent Company.
Anthony P. Raimondo, an attorney representing the National Agricultural Workers Union, said the Teamsters’ allegations were “flatly untrue” and described the group as a “startup union” with no paid staff that has slowly been working to organize workers.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“A lot of what happened with this organization became stalled during COVID because there were limited opportunities to organize and do face-to-face activity,” Raimondo said in a phone interview with SFGATE.
Companies have 180 days to enter into a new labor peace agreement if they are found to be working with an entity that is not a bona fide labor organization, Department of Cannabis Control spokesperson David Hafner told SFGATE.
So far, most of the implicated companies are staying silent. Nabis declined to comment when reached by SFGATE, and both Caliva and The Parent Company did not return requests for comment.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
A spokesperson for Glass House Brands said in an emailed statement to SFGATE that the company is working to find a replacement union to sign an agreement with. “We are in the process of complying with this change of status, and expect to make the adjustment within the time frame requested by the State,” the statement said.
Labor peace agreements are contracts between a company and a labor organization where the union agrees not to picket or boycott the business and the business agrees not to disrupt efforts by the union to organize workers and petition for better working conditions and pay. While they’re not specific to the cannabis industry, pot companies increasingly need to strike these deals as more states with legal weed mandate them thanks to heavy labor lobbying.
Cannabis farmworkers de-stem cannabis product prior to packaging at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2023.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
Beginning in July 2024, the requirement for a labor peace agreement will apply to all companies with 10 or more employees, down from 20.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Hafner said in an email to SFGATE that the California cannabis regulator does not actively investigate unions that enter into labor peace agreements with pot companies, instead relying on a “complaint-driven” system.
“DCC is actively working on efforts to increase transparency into licensees’ labor peace agreements, so that we can strengthen labor organizations’ and workers’ ability to file effective complaints,” Hafner said.
California has the largest number of legal cannabis industry workers in America, according to a 2022 report, with more than 83,000 people employed in the industry in 2021.
There are likely other cannabis companies that have signed agreements with Pro-Tech. An attorney for the organization told the state’s labor relations board that they had entered into 64 labor agreements with businesses in California’s cannabis industry.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
California
FBI agent posing as 12-year-old girl ensnares alleged pedophile in California
A 41-year-old Ventura man is facing the possibility of life in prison after he sent a federal agent posing as both a dad and a daughter sexually explicit photos, authorities announced earlier this week.
Trevor Lyons began speaking to the undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in August 2024 on the Kik messaging app. At the time, the agent was posing as the father of a 12-year-old girl who used the name “UC Dad,” the L.A. Times reported.
According to the indictment, Lyons responded, “Oooof. A tad young but do you have pics?” when the undercover officer gave him the age of his fictitious daughter.
Federal officials also said Lyons told UC Dad that he wanted to talk to the young girl, saying, “I’d love to see how much of a freak she is.”
The 41-year-old then offered photos of his own 17-year-old daughter from when she was 15 years old and continued to have sexually explicit conversations with UC Dad that month on Telegram.
In September 2024, Lyons added what he thought was UC Dad’s 12-year-old girl as a friend on Discord, telling her that he was 40 and asking if she had ever seen a penis before, the indictment details. As the conversations continued to escalate, investigators say he asked UC Dad’s daughter if she had ever performed oral sex and offered to teach her how before sending an explicit photo and video with a request that she perform it on him.
Law enforcement seized various electronics from Lyons in December 2024, including an iPhone 16, an iPad and a Samsung Galaxy flip phone.
In the indictment, filed in August this year, investigators allege Lyons had a yearslong history of distributing child pornography along with accusations that in May 2020, he coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit acts for photographs that would be distributed as child sexual abuse materials.
The 41-year-old, according to federal investigators, went by several usernames online, including Defi Samurai, Carly and Herbdoc.
He was arrested Oct. 20 after a federal grand jury charged him in a nine-count felony indictment with sexual exploitation, attempted sexual exploitation of a child for the purpose of producing sexually explicit visual depiction, attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and distribution of child pornography, according to the FBI.
“If convicted on all charges, Lyons faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison,” federal officials said.
California
Pedestrian killed by big rig in hit-and-run on I-5 in Yolo County, CHP says
A man died Tuesday night after being struck by a big rig while running along southbound Interstate 5 northwest of Woodland in California’s Yolo County, officials said.
The California Highway Patrol’s Woodland division said it happened around 8 p.m. near the Interstate 505 interchange, between Dunnigan and Zamora. Crews were already responding to a nearby medical call and were able to arrive quickly, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told officers that an all-white big rig initially slowed down after the crash but then continued driving south on I-5 toward Sacramento. The CHP says the truck likely has damage to its front left corner.
The CHP Woodland is asking anyone who may have seen the crash or has information about the truck or its driver to contact their office.
Traffic in the area was not affected.
California
Motorcycle rider sent over guardrail in fatal Southern California crash
California Highway Patrol (CHP) investigators are trying to determine what led up to a fatal motorcycle crash in Corona over the weekend.
The collision occurred as the vehicles were traveling in opposite directions near a sharp turn on Cajalco Road just east of Eagle Canyon Road around 8:45 p.m. Sunday.
Arriving officers found the motorcycle down in the roadway near a car with front-end damage and a smashed windshield.
The unidentified motorcycle rider was sent over the railing as a result of the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, news video service OnScene.TV reported.
The occupants of the car involved in the crash were treated at the scene by paramedics but were not transported to a hospital, the news service stated.
It was unclear if drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
-
World3 days agoIsrael continues deadly Gaza truce breaches as US seeks to strengthen deal
-
News2 days agoVideo: Federal Agents Detain Man During New York City Raid
-
Technology3 days agoAI girlfriend apps leak millions of private chats
-
News3 days agoTrump news at a glance: president can send national guard to Portland, for now
-
Business3 days agoUnionized baristas want Olympics to drop Starbucks as its ‘official coffee partner’
-
News2 days agoBooks about race and gender to be returned to school libraries on some military bases
-
Politics3 days agoTrump admin on pace to shatter deportation record by end of first year: ‘Just the beginning’
-
Science3 days ago
Peanut allergies in children drop following advice to feed the allergen to babies, study finds