UFCW Local 152 members at the Columbia Care cannabis cultivation facility in Vineland, N.J. ratified their first union contract, capping off a years-long journey of determination and persistence.

Members in the cultivation department voted overwhelmingly to accept their contract, which delivers on many of the priorities workers had when they first sought union representation back in November of 2022.

“These workers never gave up despite an atrociously long road to their first contract,” UFCW Local 152 President Daniel Ross, Jr. said. “Through all the delays brought on by the employer, Local 152 stood with these workers to ensure they had their seat at the table and they won their first contract.”

Columbia Care workers finally organized with Local 152 in 2023 after first expressing interest in union representation the year prior. Local 152 was forced to engage in a protracted legal process for recognition as the employer opposed Local 152’s effort to have the New Jersey State Board of Mediation certify the bargaining unit. Columbia Care argued that the employees may or may have not been “agricultural workers” under federal labor law. Local 152 was forced to seek a determination from the National Labor Relations Board in an unnecessary and lengthy process.

“This was a classic anti-union stall tactic meant to stifle workers’ momentum to organize,” President Ross said. The National Relations Board eventually found that the employees were not under its jurisdiction. New Jersey law and regulations in the cannabis industry permits all cannabis workers to organize regardless of whether federal labor laws apply. The New Jersey Board of Mediation eventually certified the unit, finally allowing these workers the opportunity to negotiate with their employer.

This unnecessary delay in negotiations spurred Local 152 to pursue NJ Bill A4182, which received bipartisan sponsorship. If approved, A4182 will simply close this loophole and clearly afford cultivation workers in New Jersey the same rights to the organizing process as all other workers who are not protected by federal labor law regardless of whether a Labor Peace Agreement is in effect. A4182 passed the final stage of approval by the New Jersey Assembly on June 30 with bipartisan support. Its Senate counterpart, S3139, is now awaiting a vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The first contract accepted on June 23, 2025, provides for substantial retroactive wage increases for all members. This wage increase now brings their wages to industry-leading levels above their non-union counterparts. The agreement also provides for 100% employer-paid ancillary benefits through the union’s Health & Welfare Fund. Valuable benefits such as prepaid legal services, life insurance and vision care were negotiated at no cost to the workers, in addition to all the protections and guarantees found in the four corners of a bona fide labor agreement.

“We are proud to have helped these workers overcome numerous setbacks. These folks ultimately ratified a first contract that protects their interests, charts a path for future gains and rewards their hard work in a meaningful way,” President Ross said.

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“We are proud to have helped these workers overcome numerous setbacks. These folks ultimately ratified a first contract that protects their interests, charts a path for future gains and rewards their hard work in a meaningful way,” President Ross said.