With the future of their jobs hanging in the political balance, workers in a dozen Los Angeles medical marijuana shops have joined UFCW Local 770. Pot workers believe the union will be able to apply enough political pressure to avert a citywide ban on dispensaries and the end of their jobs. Councilman Jose Huizar has pushed for a ban since community activists from his district complained about the neighborhood’s high number of dispensaries. Unfortunately for Councilman Huizar, he was once a good friend of Big Labor and enjoyed the endorsement of the UFCW and AFSCME. Rick Icaza, the president of UFCW Local 770, said the union will work towards an ordinance that stops short of a total ban on dispensaries, and that unionizing the workers “is the next step in professionalizing and stabilizing this new sector of the healthcare industry.”
