Oregon voters will decide this November whether workers in the state’s struggling cannabis industry should be allowed to unionize, Willamette Week reports. The ballot initiative, Measure 119, was organized by the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) labor union after state lawmakers this year considered but ultimately failed to adopt the reforms.
The legislation died in the House Business and Labor Committee — Rep. Paul Holvey (D), who chairs the committee, said that he let the bill die because the reforms would likely violate federal law.
UFCW disputed Holvey’s claim and spent $2.24 million on a signature-gathering campaign to put the issue to voters. The signatures were certified by the Secretary of State’s Office on August 1, the report said.
“Workers across every industry should have the freedom to unionize if they so choose. This ballot measure closes an age-old loophole that deprives that right to thousands of Oregon cannabis workers. Shady cannabis tycoons have taken advantage of an outdated law to strip workers’ rights that are guaranteed to nearly every other American.” — Dan Clay, UFCW Local 555 president, in a statement
UFCW also launched a recall campaign against Holvey, who survived the recall with 90% support but shortly afterward announced he would not seek reelection.
Oregon was among the first U.S. states to legalize adult-use cannabis and its cannabis industry initially struggled from an oversaturation of licenses, which led to oversupply issues. In March, lawmakers passed a bill to cap the number of cannabis licenses in the state in response to market oversaturation.
Industry sales declined to $955 million in 2023 from the state’s all-time high of $1.2 billion in 2021.
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