Independent investigative reporter, Dusty Christensen, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about his recent story on the marijuana industry, “Exploitation, Abuse, and Death: The Dark Side of Working in the Weed Industry.” Christensen further discussed the possible hazards workers face and their ongoing battle for union representation.
Following the demise of factory work in the Holy Oak, Mass. area, the city struggled to bring companies to the area to provide work for residents. However, once the marijuana industry was legalized, Holy Oak became the hub for the marijuana industry in the Bay State. Marijuana companies began filling the old factory buildings and hiring residents to take on the growing and production of their product. Following the death of a worker within one of these factories, many workers began searching for answers to better workplace safety.
In his article, Christensen outlines the early growth of the marijuana facilities, and how the rapid expansion of the industry has created the issues with workplace safety seen today. Since the facilities are housed in old manufacturing sites are not modernized and lack proper ventilation of the cannabis dust in the air. This creates hazards similar to what agricultural workers face with breathing hazards caused by the constant dust and debris. As more workers complain, many are left wondering if the marijuana industry is facing a similar problem as the mining industry did with Black Lung, Christensen said.
Many of the factories are not unionized at this time, but unions like the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers are the driving force behind getting union protections to these workers. Without these protections, workers are left to find solutions on their own. The marijuana companies are hiring anti-union consultants to come into the workplace as the desire for union representation grows. It is believed that if one of the unions is able to win a first contract, a wave of organization would follow and a majority of the industry would look to gain union representation.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more. 
America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.
America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.
SUBSCRIBE ON:
