Year-round organizing push adds employees at Fresh Elizabeth LLC to its union family, amplifying worker voices, defending their rights and boosting benefits.
WEST BERLIN, N.J., December 03, 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360 announced today that, even as 2024 winds down, its work organizing New Jersey’s cannabis industry continues to attract new members. The latest vote in favor of union membership with UFCW Local 360 came at the Fresh Elizabeth LLC dispensary in Elizabeth. The location is currently the only New Jersey outlet for multi-state cannabis operator, Fresh, which also does business in Colorado and Delaware.
“We’re seeing a new generation of workers embrace the obvious benefits of unions,” noted Hugh Giordano, UFCW Local 360’s director of organizing. “They are coming together around the proven reality that labor membership means more opportunities for success, a brighter future for workers, families, communities and employers, all built by a diverse, skilled and committed workforce.”
Giordano credits the transparency and openness at the heart of UFCW’s ‘Cannabis Workers Rising’ campaign for Local 360’s continued organizing success. For more than a decade, this UFCW initiative has been a driving force in the development and stabilization of the legal cannabis industry across the US. Today, thousands of New Jersey’s cannabis workers, from dispensaries, labs, and kitchens, to growing, manufacturing, processing and delivery, enjoy better wages, protection from unfair discipline, access to important benefits, and training opportunities through their membership in UFCW Local 360.
“Fresh is lucky to have such committed employees,” says Giordano. “This vote is an investment in the future of the company and tells executives that its workforce is ready to work as partners in its long-term success. Ultimately, votes to organize strengthen the entire industry and empower other workers to understand their rights and act on them.”
From seed to sale, UFCW is a recognized leader in organizing cannabis industry employees and is the official AFL-CIO designated cannabis labor union. Representing tens of thousands of cannabis workers in dispensaries, labs, delivery, manufacturing, processing, grow facilities and more, UFCW works with employees and business owners to achieve the shared goal of a regulated cannabis industry that delivers family-sustaining jobs and is focused on social equity.
About United Food and Commercial Workers: The UFCW International Union represents over 1.3 million hardworking families across the U.S. and Canada. These members work in essential industries such as Retail, Warehousing, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Transportation, the Public Sector and Cannabis.
