Amid 90-degree heat on Saturday and coinciding with 4/20, about two dozen unionized cannabis workers and supporters conducted a two-hour picket outside a Phoenix marijuana dispensary at the heart of stalled bargaining negotiations.
Nicholas Fredrickson stood alongside fellow Curaleaf employees participating in the rally organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 99 at a company store on East Camelback Road near North Seventh Street. Workers rallied in support of safer working conditions, full-time employment and a living wage, as stated by organizers.
Fredrickson, who was starting a shift at another Curaleaf location soon after, said the pay for cannabis employees is not matching the cost of living as it did when he joined the industry about five years ago.”We were able to comfortably take care of our families,” Fredrickson said of the time before recreational marijuana was legalized in 2020.
