Union Representation for Cannabis Engineers Extractors & Distributors

Grassroots Marketing discusses Union Representation for Cannabis Engineers Extractors & Distributors with Connor Shaw, Business Agent for CEED Local 420. CEED Local 420 - which is a union that advocates for legal cannabis workers, in the state of New Jersey. CEED stands for Cannabis Engineers Extractors & Distributors. They are affiliated with a national union - IUJAT (The International Union of journeymen and Allied Trades) - which advocates for more than 140,000 workers in different industries all across the nation. Cannabis Engineers Extractors & Distributors (CEED) Local 420, IUJAT recently announced that workers at Ascend Montclair Dispensary, referred to as “budtenders,” have achieved a first-time event, the ratification of a three-year labor agreement. This is the first time in history that workers at Ascend will be protected by a union contract. The bargaining unit covers approximately 22 employees who work at the company’s medical cannabis dispensary unit in Essex County, New Jersey. The Ascend Montclair Dispensary contract was ratified by the members of Local 420 after months of negotiations. CEED Local 420, International Union of Journeymen of Allied Trades (IUJAT), was established solely to represent cannabis workers in New Jersey. IUJAT is the among the oldest labor unions in the United States dating back to 1874, nearly a decade before the formation of the American Federation of Labor. The contract will be in effect for three years and includes critical wage and benefits enhancements, including: Three annual three percent wage increases and when compounded, are valued at 9.27% over the life of the contract. Access to a more comprehensive healthcare plan that significantly decreases copays and deductibles, without an increase in overall costs. A contract wage re-opener contingent on Ascend being awarded any future license for recreational cannabis operations. Workers will earn more paid time-off based on a new seniority schedule. Budtenders now have a say in their workplace conditions under the terms of their union contract. Ascend workers become just cause employees with access to a grievance procedure and regular contract negotiations.