Workers in North Bay cannabis laboratories achieved a major milestone in the industry.
Last week, 20 workers at Sonoma Lab Works also in Santa Rosa ratified their union contract with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5, marking the first time that a California marijuana laboratory has unionized.
The lab techs and analysts at Sonoma Lab Works join the some 2,000 California cannabis workers already represented by the union.
Following suit, the union also recognized some 80 manufacturing workers at CannaCraft in Santa Rosa on Monday, according to reporting by The Press Democrat.
"Unlike other folks that want to fight unionization, we collaborated with the union to make sure the process was smooth and it was ultimately going to benefit the employees," said Darius Anderson, CEO of Sonoma Lab Works.
Ultimately, he sees unionization as a positive thing, and hopes others in the industry will follow suit.
With more unionization, there’s increased oversight, and better hiring practices, he added. "There’s a lot of labs out there faking results," said Anderson. "And I think the more we unionize, we’ll get the bad operators out. And the good operators will end up surviving and prospering."
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