Cannabis Workers Unionize

[localhero]

unionizing budtenders is a great idea but one i really cant see picking up. nomaad might be right that this is a publicity stunt. i mean its like unionizing barristas. this kind of thing mostly works when you are operating large scale franchises like vons or ralphs. walmart being a big exception. i can see a strike getting put down easily with a quick post on cl for people who wanna jar bud.

the growers are the ones who need the most organizing around here.

 

[White-rhino]

Every union job I ever had completely sucked. It was like working in a prison compound and I had to be a junior lawyer with the "contract" every day all day. The non-union bosses were like the guards, and we were like the untrustworthy inmates. Then there were the snitches... One of the unions was the UAW, the other I forget, but it was large.

Union? No thanks.

 

[nomaad]

How is it not the union's fault GM went tits up?

He didn't he said that GM was unable to manage the benefits required by labor unions. There is a difference.

 

[SeniorBuzz]

He didn't he said that GM was unable to manage the benefits required by labor unions. There is a difference.

GM had a $74/hour worker cost overhead
Toyota had a $49/hour worker cost overhead

which, coincidently, is about the same ratio as
unionized government employees $74/hour
non-union employees in the private sector $49/hour

our 2010 Federal Budget is $3.6 Trillion
however our revenues are only $2.0 Trillion

 

[CrumpleZone]

Unionizing... way to kill the infant in the cradle. Let's get this thing off the ground before we start worrying about whether or not workers are getting a fair shake.

 

[SeniorBuzz]

for those who absolutely love to grow

this is the opportunity of a lifetime

a chance to design the perfect production line grow

 

[nomaad]

for those who absolutely love to grow

this is the opportunity of a lifetime

a chance to design the perfect production line grow

and get one of the limited, politically locked down permits to implement your design.

 

[danimal7]

won't unions just drive the price UP ?

 

[SeniorBuzz]

and get one of the limited, politically locked down permits to implement your design.

I wouldn't plan on operating in Oakland

no reason to add that much unnecessary overhead

elsewhere, there are large empty buildings

even ones with row after row of overhead fluorescents

and an overhead water supply already plumbed in

to develop the perfect mmj indoor grow

in an outlying building

with an enormous parking lot

in a very secure area

 

[nomaad]

Its not just Oakland. The ordinances are popping up all over the place. Shasta, Lassen, Lake, Santa Cruz... These ordinances that lock out the small fry and create space for the big politically connected operator are being sold to municipalities as the only way to do things. ordinances are not passed by the people, but by county supervisors... classically the easiest politicians on earth to buy. I suggest you keep your eye on developments in Chico. Its not Oakland, but I am willing to bet that one of the two or three permitted D's that open will be a Harborside...or a HHC franchise.

If you see this is some Ayn Rand-esque free market dream scene, you're havin a pipe dream. put down the pipe.

 

[SeniorBuzz]

Its not just Oakland. The ordinances are popping up all over the place. Shasta, Lassen, Lake, Santa Cruz... These ordinances that lock out the small fry and create space for the big politically connected operator are being sold to municipalities as the only way to do things. ordinances are not passed by the people, but by county supervisors... classically the easiest politicians on earth to buy. I suggest you keep your eye on developments in Chico. Its not Oakland, but I am willing to bet that one of the two or three permitted D's that open will be a Harborside...or a HHC franchise.

If you see this is some Ayn Rand-esque free market dream scene, you're havin a pipe dream. put down the pipe.

if you can have the growers in any given area
and those with related skills
begin to think collectively
and begin a discussion
on how many people it would take
to grow n number of plants

and who those people would be
define the individual jobs and how many people it would require

what would this grow look like

how many plants would be harvested
on a daily basis to yield x lbs/day on average

this would be dispensed out the front door
no middlepersons

this would be the beginning of a model business plan
that any area could use

if everyone begins to think legal
to begin a path to trust and acceptance
among each other, as well as within the community

 

[Skip]

Hydrosun, if you read two posts up from you, you'll see that it's HEALTH CARE COSTS that have screwed corporate america & the unions, as well as corporate mismanagement, Reaganism, etc.

One thing that gives unions their power is that they often vote along union lines (usually democratic). That a big reason Republicans have been trying to get rid of unions. They don't represent Republican values at all. Republicans think workers should be slaves, reflecting the colonial/imperialistic mindset from the 17th Century.

With Cannabis workers uniting under a union, it could even revitalize the union movement in the US. Of course it will mean cannabis will cost more than if there wasn't a union, so there is a price everyone must pay to support unions.

So with a union having political clout, what can be done with it on the cannabis scene? What can a union achieve that we haven't been able to do?

 

[nomaad]

this would be the beginning of a model business plan
that any area could use

Again, that's wonderful. What you're describing is called a production council and is an integral part of the economic theory I would like to see the world work on someday (after unregulated capitalism is commonly accepted as a bad long term plan, just as Adam Smith warns in the Wealth of Nations)... its called Participatory Economics.

Once we have devised this amazing business plan, all we need are some good lobbyists to start bribing politicians for us so that our business model is one of the very few to be granted a purpose.

 

[Hydrosun]

Hydrosun, if you read two posts up from you, you'll see that it's HEALTH CARE COSTS that have screwed corporate america & the unions, as well as corporate mismanagement, Reaganism, etc.

One thing that gives unions their power is that they often vote along union lines (usually democratic). That a big reason Republicans have been trying to get rid of unions. They don't represent Republican values at all. Republicans think workers should be slaves, reflecting the colonial/imperialistic mindset from the 17th Century.

With Cannabis workers uniting under a union, it could even revitalize the union movement in the US. Of course it will mean cannabis will cost more than if there wasn't a union, so there is a price everyone must pay to support unions.

So with a union having political clout, what can be done with it on the cannabis scene? What can a union achieve that we haven't been able to do?

Let me start with the R's and the D's are equally corrupt and bad for America. The healthcare argument is a Red Herring. Government and insurance involvement has made healthcare seem unaffordable, while in fact it is just attacked by corrupt politicos stealing from the sick.

GM went tits up because the union negotiators were too clever by half or the non-union management was too stupid by half, but in any event the unionized model killed GM. It was the UAW that insisted on obtaining healthcare from management.

There are still lemonade stands that pop up every summer, funny unionization and organized healthcare hasn't stopped this summer cash industry.

People have been growing and selling weed for generations and healthcare costs have not stopped gardens.

I run my own garden so for me a union couldn't achieve ANYTHING I couldn't do myself. In fact all unions do from my point of view is destroy successful businesses.

60 of these new 100 workers are employees of Richard Lee, the other 40 work for god knows who; but were it me those 40 would be fired yesterday and new employees found.

It is laughable to talk about union clout improving CA. Cesar Chavez marched DECADES ago "No Ubas" hasn't made the lot of immigrant farm workers any better and healthcare for hash makers isn't going to lead to anything but higher prices for producers like me.

What I have been preaching about trying to achieve is SELFRELIENCE and INDEPENDENCE and LIBERTY for all. Socialism, Collectivism, Unionization, and Fascism all are versions of human enslavement with varying degrees of harshness and different masters.

Every person is born free to grow as they see fit on their own property. If they want to hire help or not and on what terms is their business. There is no room or right for any other party in the contract besides the grower and worker.

The sick, the children, the politically connected have no right to the fruits of the garden or the labor of the worker.

Passing rules about the behavior of others on their own land is immoral. America is immoral, spending way beyond its means, and will steal from the world to pay for its deficits. Advocating any expansion of US Government power is tantamount to enslaving babies. How could any parent look at their children and say you owe $60K to the national debt and 50% of your annual labor for the rest of your life to the state, happy birthday: We love you long time.

 

[Skip]

Socialism, Collectivism, Unionization, and Fascism all are versions of human enslavement with varying degrees of harshness and different masters.

No WAY you can lump these together. Fascism is the OPPOSITE of collectivism and socialism. Somebody's been drinking Glen Beck's kool-aid again...

Guess I'm not gonna read your posts if you can't get your facts straight.

 

[Hydrosun]

Again, that's wonderful. What you're describing is called a production council and is an integral part of the economic theory I would like to see the world work on someday (after unregulated capitalism is commonly accepted as a bad long term plan, just as Adam Smith warns in the Wealth of Nations)... its called Participatory Economics.

Once we have devised this amazing business plan, all we need are some good lobbyists to start bribing politicians for us so that our business model is one of the very few to be granted a purpose.

The USA is not a capitalist nation. Corporatism our American version of Fascism is slowly choking the life out of the population.

I have NO need to lobby anyone to be allowed to operate a business. I am a free born man and have absolute dominion over my person and property.

Lobbying anyone presupposes their right to regulate my life, I flatly reject this contention. You might as well suggest finding the most ruthless gangster around and asking how much protection costs. Oh yeah that is what you are advocating. How much for protection Mr. Government? Oh I have to hire only your Union employees and play by your torturous rules; OK no need to think for myself or do what is right I'll just do what is acceptable to this immoral collectivist government.

No man or government has the right to enslave humans, they have the strength of force and propaganda, but not the right.

Please don't think that any group knows better how to run you life than you do.

Abdicating personal responsibility is equal to abandoning humanity. We are men and women endowed by our creator with brains as well as UNALIENABLE rights.

So those rights can't be taken or modified by the collective they can only violate the UNALIENABLE rights we are born with.

 

[SeniorBuzz]

has there ever been an indoor grow-off
using different lighting systems

to see how much production is gained
by using more energy

using the same off-spring to begin with.

do lightmakers do this?

Be great If we could find a number of growers

with different lighting systems

who would want to compete in a grow-off

using a known clone?

 

[Payaso]

And another one, thanks for the submission Lazyman!

From http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15188367?source=rss

California Medical Marijuana workers unionize:

Almost 100 workers in Oakland's medical marijuana industry have voted to be represented by organized labor, a first-of-its-kind event for an industry trying to build public support.
Marijuana advocates joined leaders of the United Food and Commercial Workers union in making the announcement Friday. Californians are split over a November ballot measure that would legalize use of marijuana by adults 21 and older, but proponents of the initiative hoped labor can now give them a boost.
"I think it's another historic step toward ending cannabis prohibition," said Richard Lee, founder and president of Oaksterdam University and a proponent of the Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative.
The federal government outlaws marijuana, including for medicinal uses. But Ron Lind, the president of the 26,000-member UFCW Local 5, based in San Jose, said he sees the "potential for thousands" of workers in California's medical marijuana industry to be represented by the union — and the potential for even more to join the union if the state initiative is approved.
Lind said Local 5 will support the initiative not only because of its workers in Oakland, but also as a way to generate more tax dollars to help save public service jobs.
"We have to come up with more revenue," he said. "So here's an excellent way to do it — to regulate the industry, to legalize it and then tax it. It's a no-brainer."
The union will represent workers at Oaksterdam University, the Patient ID Center, the Blue Sky Coffee Shop, the Bulldog Café, the Oaksterdam Gift Shop and AMCD Inc., also called Old Oaksterdam, the union said.

The Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative would allow people who are at least 21 years old to possess, grow and transport marijuana for personal use, and would let cities and counties decide whether to regulate and tax commercial production and sales. It would increase the criminal penalty for providing marijuana to a minor and prohibit consumption in public or while minors are present.
It has drawn the opposition of law enforcement organizations and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Tim Rosales, a spokesman for Public Safety First, a group formed to defeat the measure, said he doesn't see the union's involvement with medical cannabis workers as a game changer.
"I don't think this changes the dynamic that this is a very controversial issue," he said. "It certainly doesn't change the fact that this is a seriously flawed initiative."
A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed 49 percent oppose legalization while 48 percent support it. The poll had a 2 percentage point margin of error.
Whatever the impact on the initiative, the unionization of medical marijuana workers in Oakland boosts the city's reputation as an industry leader. Oakland became the country's first city in 2009 to adopt a voter-approved special tax on cannabis dispensaries. The city's four licensed dispensaries are expected to pay about $500,000 to city coffers this year.
Oakland is also moving toward regulating commercial growing operations. Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Larry Reid are expected next month to introduce legislation that would provide grow permits to three or four large-scale cultivators. The idea behind the legislation is to cut down on the dangers that often come with unregulated and unlicensed grow operations.
Kaplan was also involved in bringing the labor union together with the medical marijuana community.
"We are a city that cares about jobs, that cares about economic opportunity and that cares about worker rights," she said Friday. "This opportunity today for the unionization of a new industry makes it possible for us to build good jobs with worker
rights and responsibility."

Ron Lind, UFCW Local 5 president, speaks at a press conference announcing the partnership between employees of Oakland's medical cannabis industry and the Retail, Statewide Agriculture, Food Processing and Community Patient Care Union, UFCW Local 5 at Oaksterdam University in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, May 28, 2010. (Laura A. Oda/Staff)

Cassie Leone was one of many cannibas workers to endorse the partnership between the employees of Oakland's medical cannabis industry and the Retail, Statewide Agriculture, Food Processing and Community Patient Care Union, UFCW Local 5 at Oaksterdam University in Oakland, Calif. during a press conference on Friday May 28, 2010. Leone works at Blue Sky Cafe near Oaksterdam in downtown Oakland. (Laura A. Oda/Staf) (Laura A. Oda/Staff)

 

[Hydrosun]

No WAY you can lump these together. Fascism is the OPPOSITE of collectivism and socialism. Somebody's been drinking Glen Beck's kool-aid again...

Guess I'm not gonna read your posts if you can't get your facts straight.

Fascism is almost IDENTICAL to collectivism / socialism. Under all three of these systems the means of production are controlled by ELITES, with a HUGE state component for defining who is ELITE.

If you think one group of elites is better than another group, we are in a lot more trouble than I thought.

On a side note I think GB is an ass. Ayn Rand is my lead philosopher, but after her I look to Thomas Paine, John Locke, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Marcus Aurelius, etc.

Feel free to point our any other errors in my posts, but we do have a lot of work to do because those isms are all Kool-aid just with different food coloring.

 

[nomaad]

Hydrosun: Explain how you came to the conclusion that I'm advocating anything. I am just telling Senior Buzz that his idea about councils of stakeholders creating locally viable business models to compete in the new marketplace is sound, but in the world we live in, only playing big money politics is going to get you a seat at the table.

You really should work on context a bit more before posting. Not every statement in a discussion is taking a position that you have to jump up on a soapbox to refute with slogans.

I can tell you feel very strongly, but you're regularly missing the points people are trying to make. Deep breaths, brother.