Oregon Voters Approve Ballot Measure Protecting Marijuana Industry Workers’ Union Rights

Oregon voters approved a ballot measure on Tuesday that’s meant to help marijuana industry workers unionize by mandating labor peace agreements in the sector.

Oregon was among the early adopters of cannabis legalization in 2014, and the state has also made history with voters approving psilocybin therapy and broader drug decriminalization at the ballot in 2020.

While the governor signed legislation into law this year overturning the voter-approved drug decriminalization measure, the state has now passed a cannabis reform at the ballot to build upon its legal marketplace.

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What Measure 119 will accomplish:

Under the proposal, a marijuana businesses that’s unable to provide proof of a labor peace agreement can be subject a denial or revocation of a marijuana business license.

The agreement is defined as a contractually enforceable understanding that the employer must “remain neutral with respect to a bona fide labor organization’s representatives communicating with the employees of the applicant or the licensee about the rights afforded to such employees.”

2024 campaign:

About a month after a regional chapter of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) submitted more than 160,000 signatures to qualify the measure—which aims to block union-busting activities by marijuana industry employers—the secretary of state’s office confirmed in August that there were enough valid petitions to secure ballot placement.

Past legislative efforts in Oregon:

During the 2023 session, the legislature declined to enact a bill containing similar provisions. UFCW lobbied for that legislation, and it decided to mount a campaign to let voters decide on the issue this year after that effort failed.

UFCW pressed legislators to enact a bill to codify the labor protections last year. And after it was effectively killed by a top House Democrat, it announced that it would be leading a recall effort to oust him.

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