For budtenders and floor staff, recent union news raises practical questions: what workers want, what has been agreed, which protections apply, and what happens if you're disciplined. Workers in Chillicothe, Ohio, and Joplin, Mo., were certified as union units, and we found no contract terms for either. Workers at Greenlight Dispensary in Springfield, Mo., say they were fired after a union-organizing meeting. Greenlight told the Missouri Independent, "We do not comment on personnel matters, but we take compliance matters very seriously." In a name-based search of NLRB case records on Oct. 18, we found no charge involving a Springfield Greenlight store, and we know of no agency finding. For owners and GMs, the same items bear on schedules, discipline records, unit lines and, in New Jersey, a pending court fight over labor peace agreements. This story is based on public records and published reporting.
1. Schedules, pay and benefits
For workers. Of the stores in this story, only one has publicly described terms, and they come from the union. The UFCW says 12 associates and vault service technicians at Still River Wellness in Torrington, Conn., approved a four-year contract in September. According to the UFCW, it includes raises averaging 16% over the term, a 34% increase in the employer's health contribution, schedules posted the month before they take effect, frontloaded sick time and more vacation by seniority. The contract text and hourly rates aren't public, and we found no employer comment.
In Joplin, the union says workers want job security, steadier schedules, "equitable tip distribution" and better pay. In Chillicothe, the NLRB certified UFCW Local 1059 on Sept. 1 for lead wellness advisors and wellness advisors. The NLRB lists the employer as JDRC Managed Services, LLC at 1641 N. Bridge St.; Cresco Labs' website lists its Sunnyside store in Chillicothe at that address. The UFCW says a key issue for talks is a policy letting previously banned customers keep shopping at a store with no security staff. We found no public statement from Sunnyside or Cresco on that. With no contract terms found for either store, we can't say what changes day to day.
For stores. Our analysis: advance schedule posting means setting labor hours further out, and wages and health contributions are direct labor costs. We found no dollar figures for any store. In an Aug. 24 Missouri Independent story about another Springfield store, Key Cannabis, Elevate Cannabis's chief legal officer, Nico Pento, said the raises were "really more of a true-up" to where employees would have been had they not unionized, after a hiring freeze during bargaining.
2. Discipline and documentation
For workers. Springfield is the cautionary case, and everything here is allegation or the account of the people quoted. Former Greenlight employee Madison Taylor told the Missouri Independent (Sept. 29) that 12 employees who attended a meeting about forming a union were fired. She said management accused them of consuming marijuana at work. Eleven got calls on Sept. 17 saying they were terminated immediately, she said, and another was fired a day later. The workers contend the firings were retaliation for their union activity. The News-Leader reported, per an Internet Archive copy, that the fired employees it spoke to denied the accusation; its live lead cites a protest over "the firing of 11 of the dispensary's 23 employees." The counts differ. In the statements we found, Greenlight gave no count. Greenlight told the Independent, regarding the Springfield employees' claims: "We do not comment on personnel matters, but we take compliance matters very seriously." We know of no agency finding. In a name-based search of NLRB case records on Oct. 18, we found no charge involving a Springfield Greenlight store, though the database can lag. These workers were fired, not certified.
For workers: if you're disciplined after talking with coworkers about pay or conditions
General information, not legal advice. It comes from NLRB pages, and labor and employment law depends on specific facts and varies by state.
The NLRB says you have the right to talk with coworkers about wages, benefits and working conditions, and an employer "cannot discharge, discipline, or threaten you" for that protected concerted activity. It says the rights apply with or without a union, and can be lost in some circumstances, including through egregiously offensive or knowingly and maliciously false statements.
The NLRA covers most private-sector employees. The NLRB's Employee Rights page says it does not cover, among others, supervisors, agricultural laborers and independent contractors.
If you think your rights were violated, the NLRB says to contact it promptly. Filing a charge is free, you don't need a lawyer, and a charge generally must be filed within six months of the violation. The NLRB can't investigate without a charge.
The NLRB can't assess penalties. Remedies it may seek include reinstatement and backpay.
Whether any particular discipline was unlawful depends on the facts and is decided through the NLRB's process and, in some cases, the courts. We are not saying any discipline in Springfield was unlawful.
NLRB: 1-844-762-NLRB (6572).
For stores. In Springfield, former employees say they were told they were fired for using marijuana at work, which those quoted by the News-Leader deny. In the statements we found, Greenlight has not said publicly why the employees were fired. The NLRB says employers cannot discipline workers for protected concerted activity. NLRB records also show a charge filed Sept. 30 against PGSH d/b/a Gatsby Cannabis Co. in Royal Oak, Mich., and one filed Sept. 21 against Bloom Cannabis in Akron, Ohio. Each lists the allegation category "Concerted Activities (Retaliation, Discharge, Discipline)," and the charging party is listed only as an individual. A charge is an allegation, and we found no NLRB finding in either case.
3. Unit lines and who counts as a supervisor
For workers. Who is in the unit decides who votes and who is covered. NLRB records show leads inside units, under stipulated election agreements: Joplin's covers budtenders, budtender leads and inventory leads; Chillicothe's covers lead wellness advisors and wellness advisors. In Phillipsburg, N.J., UFCW Local 360 filed Oct. 13 for 45 employees at TerrAscend's The Apothecarium in a proposed unit of budtenders, inventory associates and shift supervisors. The NLRB listing says the unit excludes "managers, supervisors and guards as defined by the Act" but includes "shift supervisors." We saw nothing on whether the employer will contest the shift supervisors' inclusion. That is a petition, not an outcome.
For stores. Our analysis: lead, inventory lead and shift supervisor titles sit near the line between employees and supervisors, so a title alone may not settle who is covered. Whether a person is a supervisor under the NLRA is a legal question. Look at who actually has what authority, and ask counsel before a petition arrives.
4. Elections, petitions and pushback
For workers. The NLRB record shows two certified union wins, an earlier loss for a unit with the same description at one of those stores, and petitions pointing both ways. Greenlight Dispensary in Joplin voted 18-2 on Sept. 18 for UFCW Local 2 (22 eligible; certified Sept. 28). Greenlight told the Independent it "respects employees' right to decide whether they wish to be represented by a union." Chillicothe voted 10-6 in August for Local 1059 (case 09-RC-391290; 16 eligible; certified Sept. 1); a unit with the same description voted 4-16 against a union in May 2025.
Two petitions seek elections: Local 1445 at Theory Wellness in Medford, Mass. (26 employees; election agreement Oct. 5) and Phillipsburg. We found no tallies. Going the other way, an individual filed a petition Sept. 14 to deauthorize the union-security arrangement with UFCW Local 27 at Zen Leaf in Towson, Md. The NLRB's Oct. 15 tally lists 28 eligible voters, 17 ballots counted (9 and 8) and one challenged ballot that the NLRB lists as not determinative. Under Section 8(a)(3) of the NLRA and NLRB guidance, deauthorization needs a majority of all eligible voters, 15 of 28. The NLRB has not certified results; the case is open. On Oct. 8, an individual filed a decertification petition covering 12 employees at Zen Leaf Highland Park, Ill. (UFCW Local 881), a petition only.
For stores. Our analysis: with petitions pending in several states, how supervisors talk about unions and how discipline looks around an election may matter everywhere, and counsel can advise on what is allowed. We found no public employer statements on these cases.
5. New Jersey: labor peace court fights
For workers and stores. Two court matters involve New Jersey's labor peace requirement. In the first, Cannabis Place 420 Corp. sued the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission and UFCW Local 360 on Oct. 5, saying in its suit that federal labor law preempts the requirement that licensees keep labor peace agreements. According to a release from the company and Hudson County View, the company added the City of Jersey City as a defendant on Oct. 9 after a renewal resolution for its Jersey City municipal license was withdrawn at the Oct. 7 council meeting. Both say a federal judge issued a temporary order that day staying the license's expiration for 14 days. The order is directed at the City, not the state or the union, and is not a ruling on the merits of the company's claims. We have not seen the docket entries after Oct. 5 and do not know whether later orders have changed that timeline.
In a separate case, Curaleaf Holdings v. New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (D.N.J. 3:25-cv-16397), the court entered final judgment on Aug. 10 declaring the labor peace requirement preempted by federal law as applied to Curaleaf, after an opinion dated May 27, according to law firm Foley Hoag. The state appealed to the Third Circuit (No. 26-3067) on Aug. 13; as of Oct. 16 the docket index we checked shows no decision. Owners should talk to counsel before changing course.
6. What store leaders can do now
General and practical; our analysis, not legal advice.
Keep discipline consistent and documented for any conduct rule, including drug and alcohol rules: same standard for everyone, reason and date recorded.
Make sure managers know the NLRB says talking about pay and conditions is protected.
Set and follow a schedule-posting practice. This is a business practice; we did not check state scheduling laws.
Ask counsel about supervisor classification for leads, inventory leads and shift supervisors.
Talk to counsel, especially if you operate in New Jersey.
A note on this story
General information, not legal advice. Labor and employment law depends on specific facts and varies by state. Allegations described here are the claims of the people or organizations named, and none has been proven. For advice about your situation, contact the NLRB (1-844-762-NLRB) or a lawyer. Information is as of Oct. 18, 2026; court and NLRB records may change or lag, and we will update this article if they do. If we get something wrong, we will fix it promptly and note the change and date at the top of the article. To report an error, email [email protected].