One for the Teamsters: The question of organizing medical marijuana workers was bound to come up

from the Detroit Metro Times:




One for the Teamsters
The question of organizing medical marijuana workers was bound to come up

By Larry Gabriel
Published: May 18, 2011


Good old union-label marijuana.

That notion may seem a bit fantastic. When union members and marijuana come up in the same sentence it's usually embarrassing to the union. But change is in the air along with the marijuana smoke. As the business of medical marijuana burgeons across the country — last week Delaware became the 16th state to legalize medical marijuana — and employs more people, the question of union organizing was bound to be called. Last week, Teamsters Local Council 43 announced that it had answered the call and organized 23 workers at three locations of Michigan's Blue Water Compassion Center through a card check process.

Card check is a fairly uncontentious organizing process in which workers sign cards indicating their union support rather than the traditional election. Employers agree to recognize a union as the representative if more than 50 percent of workers sign cards. At Blue Water, 22 of 23 workers signed cards in support of Teamster representation. They will join the 1.4-million-strong Teamsters union as members of Local 1038.

"They just feel that they would have more clout belonging to the Teamsters union," said Marian Novak, an organizer for Teamsters Joint Council 43. "As far as issues: just job security. That's what everyone is worried about these days." ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://metrotimes.com/mmj/one-for-the-teamsters-1.1148128

"We would try to work politically," he says. "We would use our political influence to find out what they were planning and say to our members, 'Hey, this is what they're doing.'"

Marchetti means the union would use its political contacts to understand how law enforcement was going to interpret the law and what was and wasn't going to be tolerated.

And if the busts went down anyway, Novak says: "We do everything to protect our members. That's what the Teamsters are about, and we would take appropriate action for our membership."

So consider the tactic of sending people wearing clothing with medical marijuana emblems and slogans to courthouse entrances on days of hearings for marijuana defendants. This tactic is to let potential jurors know that the defendant is a medical marijuana patient or caregiver in cases where the judge has ruled that the medical marijuana defense cannot be used. Now imagine several hundred Teamsters joining the demonstration. There is power in numbers.