Workers at a Columbia dispensary no longer unionized
Olivia Hayes
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Workers at the Shangri-La Dispensary in south Columbia are no longer unionized.
Union workers collectively negotiate with their employer for better wages, benefits and working conditions.
Workers fought to unionize at the south Columbia dispensary in early 2023. Workers told ABC 17 News at the time claimed the company retaliated against workers who were unionizing. Workers narrowly voted to unionize with the United Food and Commercial Workers in June of that year.
That representation ended last week, when the National Labor Relations Board accepted a petition to end union representation at the pot shop.
Ten workers settled labor cases and received back pay plus interest from the company in October 2023 after losing their jobs at the dispensary while trying to organize.
In a news release announcing the end of the store’s union, the National Right to Work Foundation said that the effort was led by dispensary employee Travis Hierholzer, along with his coworkers and free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
Hierholzer filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board requesting a “decertification” election for the removal of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 union. The release says Hierholzer’s petition was signed by nearly all of his coworkers at the dispensary. The filing triggered an election process to determine whether the UFCW would remain the dispensary workers’ exclusive representative.
Missouri is one of the 24 states without “right to work” protections, meaning union affiliation and dues payment are required from all employees working in a union shop. The news release said that Hierholzer and his coworkers were “forced to pay dues and fees to UFCW union officials or else be fired.”
The NLRB is the federal agency tasked with enforcing federal labor laws and assisting with disputes between employers, unions and individual workers. Workers can end their representation in an election administered by the NLRB if their petition gathers the signatures of 30% or more of their fellow employees.
An election never moved forward as the UFCW decided to remove itself as the dispensary’s representative.
Now that the union has been removed, union officials cannot impose dues on employees.
Nevil Patel, Shangri-La’s CEO, shared his support for his employees in a statement to ABC 17 News.
“We respect our employees’ decision to no longer be represented by a union, and welcome their direct input and engagement going forward. Shangri-La remains committed to fostering a safe, positive workplace with competitive pay and benefits for our nearly 300 employees nationwide,” the statement read.
UFCW Local 655 spokesperson Collin Reischman confirmed the union withdrew representation of the workers at Shangri-La. Resichman declined to comment further.