St. Louis ‘Post-Harvest’ Cannabis Workers Win Union Election After Two-Year Ballot Battle
Sinse cultivation employees voted to join UFCW Local 655
It’s been almost two years since employees at the Sinse cultivation and manufacturing center here cast their votes in a union election to join UFCW Local 655.
Last week, after a landmark decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the “post-harvest” cannabis workers’ ballots were finally opened, and the result was 11-3 in favor of joining the union.
Sinse’s parent company, BeLeaf Medical, had long argued that the employees who process the marijuana don’t have the right to unionize because they’re considered agricultural workers.
Agricultural workers – including those who grow food or cultivate and process marijuana – are generally excluded from the federal protections of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
The Sinse employees in question largely made pre-rolls, input data on computers and transformed dried marijuana into finished products – jobs the NLRB stated “generally are not performed by ordinary farm employees.” The board ruled that the cannabis workers at Sinse do have the right to unionize, setting a national precedent.
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