Cannabis jobs in Illinois should be good union jobs
It’s no surprise: Legal weed is extremely popular in Illinois — and it’s exciting. As we’ve seen, the demand is there, with recreational cannabis sales totaling nearly $40 million in the first month of legalization. As for the tax revenue generated from legal marijuana, it is estimated to grow well over half a billion dollars annually to help boost our cash-strapped state.
Better yet, the social-equity focus of the cannabis industry in Illinois, as laid out in legislation, is helping to repair the extensive damage done to our communities by failed criminalization policies.
Without a doubt, the Illinois cannabis industry will only expand from here. A study by BDS Analytics projects the U.S. cannabis industry will directly produce 330,000 jobs by 2022. By 2025, Illinois alone could see 63,000 new marijuana jobs — more than 4½ times the number of jobs in the state’s film and television industry.
And as the state embarks upon this new frontier of legal adult-use marijuana, we must not forget the working people who are making the lucrative cannabis industry flourish now and into the foreseeable future. From the growers to the salespeople, to the dispensary security officers and all other workers in between, cannabis jobs should be good, union, high-wage jobs.
In an industry producing eye-popping year-over-year earnings gains of between 500 to 1,000 percent, it’s more than appropriate for its workforce to have good union jobs with high wages and other meaningful benefits.
Quality, high-paying jobs are more important than ever to help lift up our communities — especially those historically affected by marijuana prohibition and mass incarceration.
In Chicago, 17% of city residents, or approximately 461,000 people, live below the poverty line. And that percentage is significantly higher for Chicago neighborhoods and demographics hardest hit by the War on Drugs. Recent reports also show that nearly half of the city’s young black men are neither in school nor in work — a number double the national rate. For young Latino men in Chicago, about 20% are not in school or employed.
We cannot bring back our communities, our city or our state overall until we bring back working people’s wages and economic opportunity for our hardest-hit neighborhoods. That’s why Local 1 fought hard with advocates to ensure that the cannabis legalization measure includes provisions upholding labor-peace agreements between unions and corporations.
The solution to rebalancing our economy — making it work for all members of our communities, not just the wealthy few — is good jobs and a union for all working people. Because no matter where we come from or the color of our skin, working people all want the same things: higher pay, thriving communities and a fair shot at a good future.
But don’t just take my word for it. Illinois cannabis workers themselves are speaking out for the good union jobs they and their families need to thrive.
In a significant victory, 100 Joliet cannabis workers at the marijuana cultivation center Cresco Labs fought for and won their union with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881 in mid-January. Their worker-led achievement to join together in union is inspiring, and it’s hopefully just the start for what’s to come among the industry’s workforce.
As research shows, the union difference is real. Union workers make about 23% more than their non-union counterparts and enjoy better benefits and a stronger voice on the job.
Unions fight every day for economic justice and opportunity. We must seize this opportunity to ensure cannabis legalization also brings both of those objectives to the working people of Illinois.
Tom Balanoff is president of both SEIU Local 1 and the SEIU Illinois State Council. SEIU Local 1 represents 50,000 property service workers in Chicago and 10 other cities across the Midwest.