Sun Extractions Employees Vote to Join UFCW Local 360 Adds Extra Reason for Workers to Celebrate 4/20

Ahead of the fast-growing cannabis community holiday, workers at the Hamilton, New Jersey, cannabis products producer ratified their membership in Local 360.

WEST BERLIN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360 announced, today, that more of New Jersey’s cannabis workers are joining its union family. Workers at Hamilton, New Jersey, cannabis products producer Sun Extractions elected to unionize with Local 360 to secure the better wages, benefits, and benefits, that come with a union contract.

Their decision adds to the growing momentum of UFCW Local 360’s Cannabis Workers Rising campaign, an ongoing, statewide, initiative that has helped to shape labor standards and boost worker, consumer and community safety across New Jersey’s young legal marijuana industry.

"New Jersey’s cannabis industry is stronger today, thanks to this vote by Sun Extractions workers," said Hugh Giordano, UFCW Local 360 Director of Organizing. "Sustainable success for businesses, employees, and communities starts with fair treatment, strong standards and shared commitments. That’s how jobs in the cannabis industry become long-term careers, and it’s the future these employees are working towards.”

“It’s great to announce this vote ahead of 4/20,” added Giordano. “4/20 used to be all about the plant but has evolved into a holiday celebrating the whole cannabis community and recognizing the workers who grow, trim, package, curate, advise on, and dispense, our cannabis products. Their hard work is why New Jersey’s medical and adult-use markets are safe and growing, and why sales are on target to exceed $2 billion this year.”

UFCW Local 360 President Sam Ferraino, Jr. emphasized that the Sun Extractions vote is emblematic of a growing appetite for improved worker protections and benefits across the legal marijuana industry.

“We have more reasons than ever to celebrate 4/20 this year. We’re welcoming the workers of Sun Extractions into the Local 360 family, seeing the hard work of our members move an entire industry forward, and talking to other states as they look to New Jersey as a model of how to do it right,” Ferraino said. “It’s another proof-point for what we always say: stronger unions mean stronger industries and stronger communities. And that’s worth celebrating.”

For more than a decade, UFCW Local 360 has been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that New Jersey’s cannabis industry delivers fair wages, strong labor protections, and real opportunities for advancement. Thousands of cannabis workers, from cultivation to retail, have joined the union since the launch of its Cannabis Workers Rising campaign.

From seed to sale, UFCW is a recognized national leader in organizing cannabis industry employees and is the official AFL-CIO designated cannabis labor union. Across the U.S., UFCW works with employees and business owners to achieve the shared goal of a regulated cannabis industry that delivers family-sustaining jobs and promotes social equity.

About United Food and Commercial Workers: The UFCW International Union represents over 1.3 million hardworking families across the U.S. and Canada. These members work in essential industries such as Retail, Warehousing, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Transportation, the Public Sector and Cannabis.

More at https://www.ufcw360.org/