Budtenders at MOCA dispensary in River North vote to join Teamsters as Illinois cannabis union movement grows
MOCA in River North became the fourth recreational cannabis dispensary in Illinois to unionize, and the first to join the Teamsters, as the weed unionization movement continues to take root.
Nearly 30 so-called budtenders — marijuana product specialists — voted Thursday to join Teamsters Local 777, the union said, seeking to protect existing pay and benefits after both locally owned Chicago MOCA dispensaries were sold to Ascend Wellness Holdings in December.
“The workers want to keep what they have and they want to add to what they’re getting,” said Jim Glimco, president of Lyons-based Local 777, which primarily represents light manufacturing workers and school bus drivers in northern Illinois.
Workers at MOCA’s other dispensary in Logan Square are planning to hold an election on whether to join the Teamsters, likely next month, Glimco said.
A publicly traded, New York-based multistate cannabis company, Ascend Wellness Holdings operates four Ascend dispensaries and two MOCA dispensaries in Illinois. It is awaiting regulatory approval for a December acquisition of the Midway Dispensary in Chicago and the Ascend by Midway dispensary in Chicago Ridge.
An Ascend spokesman declined to comment Friday.
The Illinois weed industry, fresh off surpassing $1 billion in revenue during its first year of recreational marijuana sales, has seen a growing number of cannabis workers turn to unions, looking for higher pay, more benefits and better opportunities for career advancement.
Previously, that turf belonged to Local 881 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which has three dispensaries and a Joliet cultivation center in its membership.
In February, employees at Sunnyside in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood became the first dispensary workers in Illinois to ratify a union contract. Workers at an Ascend dispensary in Springfield voted to join the UFCW last month.
Employees at a Windy City Cannabis dispensary in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood narrowly approved a vote March 31 to join the UFCW. The election has yet to be certified by the dispensary’s new owner, Curaleaf, which took control April 1 and is contesting the results with the National Labor Relations Board, the company said Friday.
MOCA budtenders make about $20 an hour, which is above the national average of $15 an hour, according to a 2020 salary guide published by Vangst, a Denver-based cannabis recruiting website. Among the concerns for MOCA employees is that they are no longer able to receive tips and their discount for buying cannabis products has been reduced under Ascend, Glimco said.
Longer term, as the cannabis industry grows and more dispensaries open in Illinois, workers and the unions both want a bigger piece of the pie, Glimco said.
“We’re not just looking at this as just a way to get additional members, we’re trying to transform an industry,” Glimco said. “If they keep adding more and more licenses, there might be a race to the bottom for what they pay workers. That’s what we want to avoid.”
Marijuana sales in Illinois have soared since the state legalized recreational use in January 2020, reaching $1.03 billion last year. That included $669 million in recreational weed sales and more than $366 million in medical sales, according to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which regulates dispensaries in the state.
The pace has accelerated in 2021, with nearly $527 million in total marijuana sales through April, including $394 million in recreational sales and $133 million in medical sales, according to the state.
There are 110 recreational dispensaries in Illinois, the maximum currently allowed under state law, but that number is expected to grow.
A long-delayed lottery to award 75 new licenses with a social equity focus is likely to move forward this year after the state gave hundreds of unsuccessful applicants a second chance to qualify.
Meanwhile, Illinois legislators are considering a proposal to add 110 new recreational cannabis dispensary licenses.
