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Pot Goes Union As Oaksterdam U Joins UFCW
by Chris
Roberts
May 27, 2010 7:50 AM
Though
we've never been in one ourselves, we gather that joining a union isn't
all it's cracked up to be: you have to pay dues, hold signs outside of
drug stores, and often run afoul of politicians and mainstream media
when the going gets tough. But union membership can also be a strategic
masterstroke, and a magic pill to salve bad news. This appears to be the
case for "cannabis college" Oaksterdam University,
where organized labor and the burgeoning marijuana industry are
converging for - we believe - the very first time.
Last week it was revealed that Tax
Cannabis 2010 - the ballot measure and brainchild of Oaksterdam
founder Richard Lee - was
polling at a dangerously marginal 50 percent. But that was without
the pledged support of organized labor, which is now on Oaksterdam's
side after 100 employees at the cannabis-centered business - which
includes a cannabis dispensary and a plant nursery as well cultivation
classes - turned
in their union cards and joined Local 5 of the United Food and
Commercial Workers, school and union officials confirmed Wednesday.
What's this mean for labor, and for the medical cannabis movement? It
means at least in the eyes of union organizers, medical marijuana is
legitimate and it's not going away any time soon (and any cannabis
business would, of course, grow exponentially should adult recreational
use be approved). UFCW won a major coup by securing the
first-of-its-kind arrangement with Oaksterdam, which now can boast of
connections and political clout it couldn't just last week.
"It's a very big deal," said Mike Henneberry, communications director
for Local 5's Hayward office, the local
shop for Oaksterdam, who said Oaksterdam's newly-minted union
members turned in their cards about three weeks ago, at a ceremony
oversaw by Oakland City Council member Rebecca Kaplan.
"It's the first organized medical cannabis operation - I believe - in
the US or Canada, so it's groundbreaking in that sense," he said.
Cannabis is also a growth industry, unlike automobile production or
shipping, which means the union stands only to grow. "People [and other
dispensaries] who wouldn't even have thought about unionizing are now
thinking about it."
"And," noted Henneberry, "we have a lot of political connections."
That's the real benefit, in particular for Tax Cannabis 2010, but
also for would-be dispensary operators. Those operators can now organize
prior to begging city councils or planning commissions for permits,
bringing to the table a real stamp of legitimacy. And if Tax Cannabis
2010's supporters - chief among whom is Lee, who has pumped close to
$1.3 million of his own personal fortune into the ballot measure - can
call in some favors in a close campaign?
"People who didn't want to listen [to Tax Cannabis 2010] will now be
forced to listen," said Dale Sky Clare, Oaksterdam University's
executive chancellor. "People have confidence in unions."
Whether this means that labor giants like SEIU will likewise support
Tax Cannabis 2010 and campaign for its passage is as yet unclear. But it
can't hurt, and is surely a sign of things to come.
http://sfappeal.com/news/2010/05/pot-goes-union-oaksterdam-joins.php
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