UFCW Local 27 officials and members joined Delaware Governor John Carney on Oct. 7 as he signed a medical cannabis labor peace agreement bill (SB 280) into law. SB 280 requires medical cannabis companies to sign a labor peace agreement with a union or risk losing their license and signals a growing insistence by state and local regulators that employers doing business in Delaware accept pro-union requirements.
SB 280 requires medical marijuana compassion centers and safety compliance facilities that have 20 or more employees to have a labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor organization. SB 280 also includes the following provisions:
- Prohibits the labor organization and members from engaging in picketing, work stoppages, boycotts, or any other economic interference with the business of the employer.
- Prohibits the employer from disrupting efforts by the bona fide labor organization to communicate with and attempt to organize and represent employees.
- Provides the labor organization access at reasonable times to areas in which employees work, for the purpose of meeting with employees to discuss their right to representation, employment rights under state law, and terms and conditions of employment. It does not force or encourage workers to join a union; rather, it gives them the ability to consider unionization without interference from the employer.
“This is great for workers,” said UFCW Local 27 President Jason Chorpenning. “They will now have an opportunity to join a labor union and improve their lives and their families’ lives without any harassment from the employers.”