People’s Workers Petition
I am signing this letter to support contract negotiations; I acknowledge that the letter will be sent to management.
To: Unrivaled’s Management & Leadership Team,
Via this letter, we, the undersigned bargaining unit workers at Unrivaled’s Blüm Santa Ana Dispensary, ask that you negotiate with us in good faith and in a timely manner. We are very committed to this company and want negotiations to move efficiently.
We have been patient and waited for this process to result in a good contract for us, our co-workers, and the company, but hurdles have created unnecessary friction that is solvable through open communication, professionalism, and respect. Previously, the company denied the Labor Peace Agreement in place by ignoring our union certification when we got to a majority of supporters. Then, we had no choice but to file with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to obtain recognition of the collective group’s desire for representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 324, the Cannabis Union.
Since we won our NLRB election, we want to discuss our concerns about our benefits, wages, and working conditions. Our goal is to help the store and this company maintain its foundation and workforce, which are vital to the store’s future growth and success.
Our bargaining committee is fully committed to this process. We surveyed the members of the bargaining unit and identified the workforce’s priorities. In December, we presented a language proposal that defined and solidified employee roles, rights, and protections.
We are awaiting a response from Unrivaled’s negotiations team regarding the language proposal we reviewed during our first negotiations meeting on December 21, 2023. Our initial filing for the union from the union representation vote was back at the end of September 2023. We are urging the company to make this negotiation process more of a priority.
Since our last meeting with the company’s representatives, the store has again gone through a series of changes, resulting in the company and your store employees losing access to the Garage Center on the store’s lot and all of the essential items that are contained, including, but not limited to, our locker access, fridge and freezer access, cleaning stations/sink access, additional bathrooms, vending machine access, hot & cold water cooler, and a series of couches and lounge chairs. This list also does not include the security team’s loss of the break room or dispatch being moved to the conference room, which is also being used as our interim breakroom and promo and sample storage area.
This loss of access came with no transparency or detailed reason as to why it occurred or what the clear and concise plan moving forward is or what would solve it.
We are still waiting for an update on what the next steps will be on this matter, and from our understanding, we have no clear deadline for when the store’s employees will be informed of an entirely planned out solution.
With the history of delays, the lack of response, and feedback from our initial meeting, the bargaining committee members are concerned that the company may again push to delay negotiation, which will only further delay the solutions we and the store need.
To make sure this issue does not get added to the list of other items that are still waiting to be addressed, such as the lack of ability to use air conditioning in inventory or P&P area due to the foul smell it emits, rain and leaks throughout the building, deteriorating building components like cabinets and drawers, missing and misplaced product, etc., we again ask for urgency and a willingness to help solve these problems together.
We respectfully ask that we continue with the negotiation process so that we can address the issues mentioned above. Failure to do so will leave us with no choice but to escalate the matter to other avenues to find solutions. We hope to continue working together during this process.
Respectfully,
Blüm Workers
