Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Cannabis Dispensary Workers in Ohio Vote to Join UFCW

Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

Staff at Sunnyside Dispensary in Chillicothe, Ohio, have successfully voted to form a union with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1059.

These wellness advisers—also sometimes called budtenders—provide expert recommendations for products, educate customers and more. Workers rallied together to win their election so they could secure fair sick-leave policies, improved health care benefits, better safety protocols and more input into day-to-day operations.

“We are excited to get to the bargaining table and negotiate a first contract that empowers us and reflects the value that we bring every day,” said Stacie Hupp, a wellness adviser at Sunnyside Dispensary. “We started this movement by simply talking to each other about how to make our jobs better, and now we have an opportunity to make that vision a reality.”