Budtenders and inventory clerks Home State Dispensary in Kansas City, Missouri voted on Tuesday to join the Teamsters Local 955, making them the first cannabis workers in the Kansas City metro area to unionize and the first to join the Local 955.
In a statement, Jerry Wood, Local 955 president, noted that cannabis sales in Missouri are on track to gross over $1 billion in revenue this year.
“These workers are smart. They know that they need to strike while the iron is hot if they want a fair share of that windfall, and by joining the Teamsters, they can get it.” — Wood in a press release
Madison Ford, a budtender at Home State, said the workers “are standing together to make working conditions better in this industry.”
“I know that the best way to do that is by making the Teamsters a norm for Missouri cannabis,” she said.
Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and Food Processing Division Director, added that the union is going to “fight hard to make careers in this industry sustainable and prosperous over the long term.”
“These workers have the courage, tenacity, and solidarity that it takes to win a strong contract, and we’re here to make that happen,” he said.
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