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Posted

Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
Pubdate: Tue, 06 Oct 2015
Source: Statesman Journal (Salem, OR)
Webpage: http://drugsense.org/url/pkXd5kcr
Copyright: 2015 Statesman Journal
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/QEzJupzz
Website: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/427
Author: Gordon Friedman

OREGON CANNABIS WORKERS UNIONIZE

At least two collective bargaining contracts between Oregon cannabis
workers and the dispensaries that employ them have been signed, and
more are expected to partake in collective bargaining as the industry develops.

The move to unionize by some cannabis workers strengthens the role
unions have historically held in negotiating workplace conditions for
their members, as labor unions enter a brand new market.

And the trend is expected to grow: As many as 50 Oregon cannabis
businesses have expressed interest in unionizing to the United Food
and Commercial Workers Local 555. The union represents more than
20,000 retail and manufacturing workers in Oregon and Washington.

The UFCW is one of the largest unions in the nation, with more than
1.3 million members in the U.S. and Canada. It has already begun
representing cannabis workers in Washington, who signed a collective
bargaining agreement in June.

Cannabis workers first unionized in Oregon this July, when three
employees at Portland's Stoney Brothers dispensary, now known as Hi
Casual Cannabis, signed a collective bargaining contract with UFCW Local 555.

UFCW Local 555 is also representing two employees at the West Salem
Cannabis dispensary who ratified a collective bargaining agreement in
September.

Margo Lucas, the dispensary's owner, said she's "thrilled" about the contract.

West Salem Cannabis is also a member of Union Cannabis, an employer's
association promoting union-made products from more than 40 cannabis
businesses in six states.

Lucas, who is also employed by the UFCW Local 555 as a cannabis
organizer, said there are great opportunities ahead for Oregon's
cannabis businesses, and she wants the state to set an example for
the industry.

Although she didn't disclose the specific terms of West Salem
Cannabis' contract, it's likely that it reflects the one UFCW signed
with Stoney Brothers.

In that agreement, wages were guaranteed between $15 and $34 an hour.
Other provisions included regular raises, health care, retirement
options, and provisions for employee safety.

Dan Clay, UFCW Local 555's president, said those guarantees are
essential because the cannabis industry is fundamentally different
from other markets.

"Federal law doesn't protect those workers like it would regular
workers in a retail store or a plant because the feds don't recognize
cannabis as legal. They're not enforcing things like minimum wage or
any hours laws or even in many cases workers' compensation laws," he said.

Lucas said she hopes other cannabis businesses around the state will
unionize as the economy develops, securing commonplace employee
protections. She said unionizing is a step towards legitimizing
Oregon's marijuana economy, which she believes will one day grow into
a major cannabis exporter.

"We can build the economy from the ground up by having good paying
jobs," she said. "It's one thing to say that you're going to treat
your employees right, but it's another to commit to it."

Businesses making those contractual commitments are an indicator of
the cannabis industry's trajectory towards a more mature market,
according to Lance Compa, a senior lecturer at Cornell University's
School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Compa said collective bargaining by cannabis workers isn't a
surprise, but it's coming years sooner than usual, as it can take
decades for an industry to explore unionizing.

"That was the story of the auto industry. The industry started in the
early 20th century and it took 30 or 40 years before employees said,
'Wait a minute, this is my career. I need to fight for some
protection,'" he said.

But in contemporary emerging markets, workers are organizing unions
more quickly.

"In these new sectors, it's being telescoped into a matter of months
or one or two years."

Compa said developing businesses like the new-media company Gawker,
or groups of bicycle mechanics in Washington, D.C., are "new age"
markets that have also started collective bargaining shortly after formation.

Unionization can be a tough pill for private-sector employers to
swallow, but Compa said a bit of tension is normal because employers
and employees alike want to maximize their pay.

"But you have to go through the crucible of collective bargaining to
understand that nobody gets 100 percent of what they're proposing," he said.

Employers and employees may soon learn more about the realities of
collective bargaining, as Clay predicts 40 or more Oregon cannabis
businesses will unionize in the next 18 months.

In the meantime, Lucas is expanding her grow operation. She'll be
adding at least six employees, and hopes to unionize them all.

Posted

sure...but what does the job pay is the real question for aspiring garden managers I think.

As little as they possibly can. What kind of materialized in co is that many grow managers would be in the 40-60k area, where they did most of the work w some hourly help at the bottlenecks... And if u managed other growers at a massive site (think thousands of lts), then maybe u would be one of the few 'lucky' ones that broke six figures. A lot of details to discuss within those caps, but as a reference for ya. Anyone investing cash to cover always feels entitled to all of the profits, thinking any monkey can grow a plant, they did the hard part in having the money to start... Though most of them have never even tended a house plant (the money guys that is).

 

First couple of years will be musical chairs as growers that fronted they r the best will be rooted out, and all the varying disillusioned dreamers come back to reality, and all the conflicts in personalities and values shake out. Odd as it might seem, lots of peeps will lose money starting out, esp if they try to do it legit. Eyes too big for their britches, but hell, aint it all just hundred dollar bills growing on trees??? ;-)

Posted

5 qualified patients registered to one cg, using one ounce per week @ 225 per hits the mark for 50k+ gross income.

Hits the mark for having 5 patients that are going to fork over $900 each a month for their own personal medical use. Who does that? It's an imaginary situation. Maybe somewhere else, but not here. 

Posted

Registering those who you can service properly is paramount to positive patient outcomes.

 

There are every different kinds of patients with many different needs. With your(resto) broad stroke of assumption....its easy to discern your obtuse approach to the matter and the possible results you reap.
  I find keen patients are able to quickly assess the skills of a grower while  checking  competency and skill sets.  A patient promised an uninterrupted supply of grade A meds will be disappointed fast when those expectations are not met. Patients are generally nice people who don't wish to hurt feelings in the registration. When they leave a cg for the disappointments often they make up a nice reason for doing so. Like "I cant afford the amount I thought I needed from you". This could possibly lead you to believe that those needy patients do not exist, or cannot afford their needs. Over the years I've registered patients who require an ounce per week. Some were found to be sharing, while others were homebound and disabled and required more than 4oz a month, but couldn't afford it, and some could. Fish in a murky pond ...its likely to catch murky fish right? 
 
Some patients beg for free supply, while some are wealthy connoisseurs, and others fall somewhere in between. A proper interview will reveal expectations of each participant. Your truths may not be the truths shared by others perhaps?  Its easy to adopt misconceptions like this, but I assure you, you'll get the patients you deserve in the end.

 

peace

Posted

Registering those who you can service properly is paramount to positive patient outcomes.

 

There are every different kinds of patients with many different needs. With your(resto) broad stroke of assumption....its easy to discern your obtuse approach to the matter and the possible results you reap.

  I find keen patients are able to quickly assess the skills of a grower while  checking  competency and skill sets.  A patient promised an uninterrupted supply of grade A meds will be disappointed fast when those expectations are not met. Patients are generally nice people who don't wish to hurt feelings in the registration. When they leave a cg for the disappointments often they make up a nice reason for doing so. Like "I cant afford the amount I thought I needed from you". This could possibly lead you to believe that those needy patients do not exist, or cannot afford their needs. Over the years I've registered patients who require an ounce per week. Some were found to be sharing, while others were homebound and disabled and required more than 4oz a month, but couldn't afford it, and some could. Fish in a murky pond ...its likely to catch murky fish right? 

 

Some patients beg for free supply, while some are wealthy connoisseurs, and others fall somewhere in between. A proper interview will reveal expectations of each participant. Your truths may not be the truths shared by others perhaps?  Its easy to adopt misconceptions like this, but I assure you, you'll get the patients you deserve in the end.

 

peace

No assumption here. Just stating fact from studying the market since 1979. If you were based in reality you would agree with us real folks. Thanks for the long insulting post grassmatch. We already knew your opinion and it's basis in the imagined. So you are just insulting personally and of our intelligence. Take another swing if it floats your boat today. Will not change reality though. Just make those wrinkles in your forehead deeper. LOL

Posted

No assumption here. Just stating fact from studying the market since 1979. If you were based in reality you would agree with us real folks. Thanks for the long insulting post grassmatch. We already knew your opinion and it's basis in the imagined. So you are just insulting personally and of our intelligence. Take another swing if it floats your boat today. Will not change reality though. Just make those wrinkles in your forehead deeper. LOL

Nope, wrong again.

What an unhappy little bubble of reality you live in, how sad.

Posted

Nope, wrong again.

What an unhappy little bubble of reality you live in, how sad.

So you believe you can line up 5 patients consistently that all have doctors saying they need an ounce a week to treat their medical condition? And on top of that they all consistently have $900 a month to spend on cannabis to treat their own medical condition without offsetting that cost by diverting some of it?

Of course not! You just wanted to stick your arse into something and this had to be it. LOL Good job. Nice arse. 

 

Caregivers who put their shoes on in the morning and step out their doors in Michigan don't see these type of patients on a consistent basis.

 

People who glean all their info off the net and post about life in their imaginary world (built from reading the internet) often clash with real folks who have to live here. Sorry to say so but that's life in today's two worlds. 

Posted

I see some assumptions up in here.

Yes, including the one where all caregiver's don't have Willy Nelson and his band as patients. Yes, you could be that lucky. Paul was, but that was a very unique situation, in another State, at another time. If you have had your ear to the ground for decades you realize there just are not that many rock stars in Michigan who will take the time to go to the doctor to get their cannabis. We have more than our share of needy medical cannabis people here in Michigan, and if you somehow separated out 5 who have $900 a month to spend every month you have quite the 'sorter' there. Unbelievable, and actually hurtful to those deciding on a real job.......

Posted

Yes, including the one where all caregiver's don't have Willy Nelson and his band as patients. Yes, you could be that lucky. Paul was, but that was a very unique situation, in another State, at another time. If you have had your ear to the ground for decades you realize there just are not that many rock stars in Michigan who will take the time to go to the doctor to get their cannabis. We have more than our share of needy medical cannabis people here in Michigan, and if you somehow separated out 5 who have $900 a month to spend every month you have quite the 'sorter' there. Unbelievable, and actually hurtful to those deciding on a real job.......

it would be tough to get 5 people like that. My guess is you would not be in lansing, flint, or detroit, and perhaps you would be making concessions elsewhere to achieve these 5 people. Maybe one has to have patients hours away to satisfy this need? There is also the added risk. I know that people do require this much for certain conditions, but I'd be very careful to be sure that these folks aren't getting me into anything sketchy. Maybe grass and some nifty software have solved this issue....at least on its face. There's also the management issue on the caregivers end. I don't like to be near my max amount with plants drying or even ready to come down. I stay 6 split plants short of the limit just for that reason. Patients with weekly demands will require a fast moving perpetual...it can get tricky.

 

Possible, yes....realistic, not for many. Anyway, roaring sativa...wow.

 

More to do with these licenses. I hate that they are trying to smash the caregiver system. Am I right that a grower has to have 2 yrs experience as cg and then cannot be a cg if they become a grower? I love to grow, but that's bs. I guess we'll learn where all the compassion is. The fakers will jump ship and tell us they have fire at their shop for 25 a gram. Can't wait to keep doing what I'm doing. My fire is always fresh.

Posted

5 qualified patients registered to one cg, using one ounce per week @ 225 per hits the mark for 50k+ gross income.

 

Cm'on man, how could any caregiver work-out such a deal with five patients?   A couple of years ago, we saw statistics that about 60% of patients were on SSI or SSDI.  If you're on SSI or SSDI, you might get about $600/month in benefits, which leaves no room for any MMJ purchases, let alone an oz. per week at this price.  Myself, I suffer form several debilitating conditions and, as a grower/CG I get free meds all the time.  I have a high tolerance but still couldn't plow through an ounce a week without being completely catatonic and dysfunctional.

 

Any CG who provides 4 oz per month to a bona fide patient at $225/oz. is simply taking advantage of people.  I can't imagine charging a patient $225/oz in such a situation. 

 

You've already told us that your garden more or less runs on its own.  I get that - mine does too.  So any CG who can actually provide quality meds on a consistent basis shouldn't need to charge a bona fide patient $900/month for meds. 

 

Think deeply and hard....if you have a patient who really needs 4 oz/month, you're working with a seriously sick person. 

Posted

I am a top shelf grower for registered patients. I rarely keep five at one time. when I did it was a lot of work for me to perform, outside of my comfort level. I simply illustrated how 50 kyearly  gross is made, that's all. and as you see, the math is correct. It cannot be done slinging dope a gram at a time over a picnic table, and cant be done without a stellar garden schedule. Matter of fact, I can spell out a dozen scenarios to illustrate the futility in most growers' attempts at such a feat.

But all I needed was one scenario to show it can be done, a simple notion really, using simple math .   Now, ask me why you or someone else would not be able to perform in a satisfactory manner, I can easily answer that too, without the math even.

 

now, on to the ridiculous judgments..... I grow boutique style cannabis, very powerful, very unique, and sought after. I've sampled hundreds of others wares, patients have always  shared their previous stash with me, while we laughed aloud at our first delivery meeting. I don't claim to be the best at anything. I am an effective patient manager. I have a waiting list of patients with scheduled spot openings they await. Its been like that for years. I cant satisfy everyone of course, so I accept those that I know I can. By the time a patient has met me they are well aware of what I do, our expectations, leaving no stone unturned. I cannot support a "gram a week user", and I wont apologize for that, and haven't seen even one of those requests in my box in years.

With patient interviews I learn that the heavier needs patients are cautious with growers because they've been burned in the past. Its surprisingly refreshing to them when I am able to provide an uninterrupted supply of the best meds they ever had, month after month after month. No arrests, no late shows or no shows, no break ups, no evictions, no dogs eating my homework, and no other disappointments.   The stories of previous suppliers is what motivates me to perform for these patients. I strive to show them "it doesn't have to be that way". Each is responsible for naming their own price for what they need. If it works out for me, I accept the donation offer.

All of my patients have doctor records showing their qualifying disease. I don't define them as their disease, and rarely speak of it after an interview. Unlike others I see in the cannabis ...forums my group and myself don't really like talking about our disabilities. Sometimes I have a garden spot open for a ounce a month patient, sometimes  it needs to be more to keep my garden schedule operating without fail. I accept patients applying to me for a spot based on the spot that has become/will become available.

Obviously some wont comprehend my procedures, preferences etc, and that's ok too. Patients are free to cycle in and out of any cg's registry. I keep no prisoners and in fact I have some patients re-registering year after year since 2009. Its a beautiful thing really, and makes others jealous maybe, to the point of denying the existence of such a beautiful garden plan, or lashing out with judgments. Even really sick dying people have sought my services. some cook their buds, some process other ways. If I couldnt recoup my ongoing gardening costs I would only be growing for myself, and wont apologize for that either.

Are we at the point now where one sickness trumps another where med mj is concerned, a sliding cost scale based upon your assessment of disease severity? 

 

 

Happy Grower, with Happy Patients.. who's complaining

Posted

I am a top shelf grower for registered patients. I rarely keep five at one time. when I did it was a lot of work for me to perform, outside of my comfort level. I simply illustrated how 50 kyearly  gross is made, that's all. and as you see, the math is correct. It cannot be done slinging dope a gram at a time over a picnic table, and cant be done without a stellar garden schedule. Matter of fact, I can spell out a dozen scenarios to illustrate the futility in most growers' attempts at such a feat.

But all I needed was one scenario to show it can be done, a simple notion really, using simple math .   Now, ask me why you or someone else would not be able to perform in a satisfactory manner, I can easily answer that too, without the math even.

 

now, on to the ridiculous judgments..... I grow boutique style cannabis, very powerful, very unique, and sought after. I've sampled hundreds of others wares, patients have always  shared their previous stash with me, while we laughed aloud at our first delivery meeting. I don't claim to be the best at anything. I am an effective patient manager. I have a waiting list of patients with scheduled spot openings they await. Its been like that for years. I cant satisfy everyone of course, so I accept those that I know I can. By the time a patient has met me they are well aware of what I do, our expectations, leaving no stone unturned. I cannot support a "gram a week user", and I wont apologize for that, and haven't seen even one of those requests in my box in years.

With patient interviews I learn that the heavier needs patients are cautious with growers because they've been burned in the past. Its surprisingly refreshing to them when I am able to provide an uninterrupted supply of the best meds they ever had, month after month after month. No arrests, no late shows or no shows, no break ups, no evictions, no dogs eating my homework, and no other disappointments.   The stories of previous suppliers is what motivates me to perform for these patients. I strive to show them "it doesn't have to be that way". Each is responsible for naming their own price for what they need. If it works out for me, I accept the donation offer.

All of my patients have doctor records showing their qualifying disease. I don't define them as their disease, and rarely speak of it after an interview. Unlike others I see in the cannabis ...forums my group and myself don't really like talking about our disabilities. Sometimes I have a garden spot open for a ounce a month patient, sometimes  it needs to be more to keep my garden schedule operating without fail. I accept patients applying to me for a spot based on the spot that has become/will become available.

Obviously some wont comprehend my procedures, preferences etc, and that's ok too. Patients are free to cycle in and out of any cg's registry. I keep no prisoners and in fact I have some patients re-registering year after year since 2009. Its a beautiful thing really, and makes others jealous maybe, to the point of denying the existence of such a beautiful garden plan, or lashing out with judgments. Even really sick dying people have sought my services. some cook their buds, some process other ways. If I couldnt recoup my ongoing gardening costs I would only be growing for myself, and wont apologize for that either.

Are we at the point now where one sickness trumps another where med mj is concerned, a sliding cost scale based upon your assessment of disease severity? 

 

 

Happy Grower, with Happy Patients.. who's complaining

I guess my point is that it's pretty much a fool's errand to think that a CG is likely to line-up five patients who buy 4 oz per month at $225 per. I wouldn't be surprised if some CGs manage such a feat, but this is an unrealistic expectation. It's like those miracle diet paid-programs you see on TV. They show one successful person, who isn't normal by any stretch, and then disclaim the hell out of their program and say "results aren't typical."

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