The Washington State House passed a bill Wednesday, aimed at extending collective bargaining rights to agricultural workers in the cannabis industry despite the industry saying it will adversely impact an industry that’s competing with the black market.
House Bill 1141 passed along party lines 55-40, with one Democrat voting with all Republicans against the bill. It seeks to address the inequities faced by cannabis workers, who have been allowed to unionize but have been excluded from collective bargaining protections.
The democratically sponsored bill will place agricultural workers involved in cultivating, harvesting and processing cannabis under the jurisdiction of the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) for purposes of collective bargaining. The bill will allow workers growing cannabis to negotiate for better wages, job security and improved working conditions — rights they currently do not have.
Jess Combs, a worker at Phat Panda, expressed her frustrations during the bill’s public hearing.
“We face the same unsafe conditions, slow pay, and lack of job security as others in the industry, but under current law, we can’t organize to do anything about it. That exclusion isn’t just unfair and undermines the entire industry,” she said.
Supporters of the bill argue it brings much-needed protections to cannabis workers, who have been excluded from federal labor protections due to the National Labor Relations Act’s exemption for agricultural workers.
Is cannabis a crop like apples, wheat or hops?
However, the bill has sparked a heated debate over whether cannabis should be treated differently from other agricultural industries in Washington. Opponents argue the cannabis industry should not be singled out for collective bargaining protections that are not extended to other sectors, including wheat, hops, and apple growers, all of whom are also part of Washington’s agricultural landscape.
Vicki Christophersen, Executive Director of the Washington CannaBusiness Association, raised concerns about the bill during the public hearing, noting that cannabis cultivation is already a tough business.
She highlighted how many cannabis producers are struggling to survive in a market flooded with product and dropping prices. Christophersen believes that adding collective bargaining to an already fragile industry could have dire consequences.
Cannabis industry not as profitable as it seems
“In spite of the sales numbers you see for cannabis, very few businesses in this industry operate with a profit margin,” Christophersen stated. “Producers, the growers, are struggling the most under a frustrating oversupply of products and prices that have dipped extremely low, so low we have trouble competing with the illicit market.”
Christophersen also pointed out that most of the original members of her association have gone out of business due to these financial pressures, leaving many producer licenses dormant.
She made the case that cannabis cultivation should be treated in the same way as other agricultural sectors, where collective bargaining is not part of the landscape.
“At the very core, cannabis cultivation is agriculture and should be on the same playing field as our peers in the wheat, hops, and apple growers in Washington State,” she argued.
