Employees at the Wonderland Smoke Shop, a marijuana accessories store in West Berlin, New Jersey, submitted a petition to unionize.
According to a news release issued by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360, Wonderland’s petition to the National Labor Relations Board marks the first time a marijuana accessories business has formally asked to conduct an election to unionize.
Wonderland describes itself as a one-stop shop that sells glass pipes, water pipes and other marijuana smoking accessories as well as jewelry.
Employees signed the petition even after business owners pushed them to reject the worker protections and benefits that come with joining the UFCW Local 360, according to the release.
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For the past couple of years, union organizing has been surging in the U.S. marijuana industry.
It’s estimated that unions have organized 30,000-40,000 cannabis workers across the country.
