Workers at a marijuana dispensary in Butte voted Wednesday to create Montana's first unionized cannabis workplace.
Employees at Honey Sour Pharmacy in Butte voted unanimously Wednesday to join the local United Food and Commercial Workers union.
UFCW says it has organized about 300 dispensaries across the U.S. since 2020, and Honey Sour employees are the first in Montana to participate.
It was the first vote of its kind on a cannabis company in Montana, according to records from the National Labor Relations Board.
Melanie Wendt is one of those organized workers. She says it's significant that this milestone was achieved in Butte, which has historically played a central role in the American labor movement.
“I was born and raised here, and my family has been here for about five generations, so to be able to not only be a part of history in Butte, Montana, but to be a part of union-specific history,” he said. It’s honestly amazing,” Wendt said.
Wendt said she hopes her and her colleagues' organizing efforts will show that cannabis work is a legitimate profession.
A Honey Sour spokesperson declined to comment on the union vote.
