Union Says RI Compassion Center Retaliated and Fired Worker, Sparking Strike

Union Says RI Compassion Center Retaliated and Fired Worker, Sparking Strike

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 328 (UFCW Local 328) has been organizing to unionize workers in the cannabis industry in Rhode Island. In April, workers voted 21-1 to approve union status at Greenleaf, one of Rhode Island’s licensed compassion centers.

But now, the union is claiming that the facility has retaliated against one of the organizers and fired him for his union activities.

The UFCW said in a post to social media, “Employees at Greenleaf are holding a one-day grievance strike after Seth Bock, the CEO of Greenleaf, illegally retaliated against a Greenleaf employee who serves on the union negotiating committee.”

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The union claims, “Bock terminated the employee without due process and without just cause. The employees at Greenleaf approved of the strike with a unanimous vote, demonstrating their solidarity in calling for the reinstatement of their co-worker and their commitment to ending the pattern of retaliatory behavior by their CEO.”

“The Greenleaf workers saw an injustice and responded with an incredible display of solidarity. Throughout the day, patients offered their support and commitment to demanding CEO Seth Bock stop the pattern of retaliation and to reinstate a valued member of their team who was unjustly terminated,” said the union.

Efforts to reach Bock by email and phone were unsuccessful.

Greenleaf has now become the second unionized cannabis business in the state of Rhode Island, and the first compassion center. UFCW Local 328 currently represents cultivation workers at Ocean State Cultivation Center in Warwick, Rhode Island, who unanimously ratified their first union contract in October 2020.

As Rhode Island is set to move forward with expanding the medical cannabis program with 6 new compassion centers, the union has stated it plans to continue to work to unionize workers.

UFCW Local 328 represents over 11,000 workers in a range of industries across Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. As the recreational and medical cannabis industries have become mainstream across the United States, the UFCW has represented workers in cultivation and retail operations