Proposed Michigan cannabis union rule under fire

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Marijuana regulators in Michigan are being criticized by some business groups for proposing an administrative rule that marijuana businesses must enter into labor peace agreements with unions as a condition for licensing to grow, sell or distribute cannabis.

Adult-use marijuana sales began Dec. 1 in Michigan, which also has a legal medical cannabis market.

Labor unions frequently seek peace agreements so cannabis business owners remain neutral when a union seeks to organize workers.

Republican lawmakers aligned with business groups are questioning why Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) would propose such a requirement and whether it was ordered by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.

Sen. Aric Nesbitt, a Republican and chair of the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee, pressed the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, which includes the MRA, to quash the proposed rule, describing it as a “mob style protection racket” for labor unions.