Toronto – March 13, 2019 – Workers at the call centre for the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of unionization with UFCW Canada. By winning their union certification vote, the workers have become the first union members attached to Ontario’s rapidly growing legal cannabis sector.

The fundamental issues that drove the employees to support unionization were lack of hours, lack of consistency in scheduling, and the need for job security and just cause protection. Workers first contacted UFCW Canada after learning that the union already represents thousands of workers in the cannabis sector in Quebec and the United States.

The call centre is operated by Line One Contact Centres Inc., a company based out of Calgary, Alberta. Workers at the call centre, located in downtown Toronto, provide important customer support and mail tracking services for Ontario’s online cannabis store.

UFCW represents cannabis production and retail workers in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, and New Mexico. UFCW Canada represents the first unionized cannabis retail workers in Canada, at SQDC locations in Rosemont, Rimouski, and Mirabel, Quebec.

The union is also single-handedly leading a legal challenge to the Ontario government’s exclusion of agricultural workers from the Labour Relations Act. In 2015, the Ontario Labour Relations Board issued a decision deeming cannabis production workers as agricultural workers. Ever since the Mike Harris government in 1995, agricultural workers have been excluded from the Act and therefore do not have a clear path to unionization. UFCW Canada will continue to fight for all workers involved in the cannabis sector.

How can I join the union?

Are you a cannabis worker who would like to gain the union advantage at work? Join UFCW Canada, the union for cannabis workers, and make your workplace better today. Click here to join now.