First-Ever Union Contract Ratified By Cannabis Workers at Ascend Montclair Dispensary
Cannabis Engineers Extractors & Distributors (CEED) Local 420, IUJAT have announced that budtenders at Ascend Montclair Dispensary, a medical cannabis dispensary unit in Essex County, NJ, have ratified their first ever union contract. The three-year labor agreement was ratified after months of negotiations and includes substantial gains in wages and benefits, including healthcare and paid leave.
Business Agent and Legislative Director of IUJAT Connor Shaw praised the new members’ contribution to Ascend’s success and the negotiation process and expressed confidence not only for the future of the 22 member bargaining unit, but for all of NJ’s medical cannabis industry, for which they were setting the standard.
Quoted in an article in insidenj.com, New Jersey State Senate President Nicholas Scutari said,
“I would like to congratulate the employees of Ascend Montclair Dispensary who have chosen to take the step forward as a union represented and protected shop. While I have been a champion for the need to legalize cannabis in New Jersey, I have never lost sight that the jobs created by this new industry should be safeguarded with enhanced workplace protections. This is why my legislation added strong labor protections into the cannabis laws we passed. I wish Cannabis Engineer Extractors & Distributors Union (CEED) Local 420 continued success in their organizing efforts, and I will stand with them as I have always stood with the women and men of the Garden State’s Organized labor movement.”
Congratulations to CEED’s new members and a successful negotiation and welcome.
