Utah medical marijuana dispensary workers vote to unionize with UFCW

Just Released! Get realistic market forecasts, state-by-state insights and benchmarks with the new 2024 MJBiz Factbook member program, now with quarterly updates. Make informed decisions.


Employees of Dragonfly Wellness, a medical marijuana dispensary in Salt Lake City, voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).

The workers are the first cannabis-sector employees in Utah to unionize, according to Phoenix-based UFCW Local 99.

The Tuesday unionization vote involved 30 employees, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

“Employees included in the newly formed cannabis union include Dragonfly Wellness associates, team leads, drivers, delivery leads, inventory specialists, pharmacists, and head trainers,” according to a UFCW Local 99 news release.

Vertically integrated Dragonfly Wellness opened the state’s first licensed MMJ pharmacy – as dispensaries are called in Utah – in March 2020.

Utah had 72,370 registered medical marijuana patients as of August 2023, according to the Utah Department of Health & Human Services.

The UFCW and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have both organized workers at a growing number of state-legal marijuana businesses across the United States.

At the beginning of September, for example, Ascend Wellness Holdings employees at a store in Michigan ratified a contract with the Teamsters.