FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2021
Contact: Chelsea Connor | cconnor@rwdsu.org | 347-866-6259
HISTORIC CANNABIS LEGALIZATION VOTE PASSES NY LEGISLATURE
Will Provide Opportunity for Working People
(NEW YORK, NY) – Today, the New York legislature passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), which would legalize adult-use cannabis in New York. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents workers in the medical cannabis industry across New York State. Stuart Appelbaum, President of the RWDSU and John Durso, President of Local 338 RWDSU issued the following statements:
Stuart Appelbaum, President of RWDSU, said: “Today, in passing the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, the New York State legislature took enormous strides toward ending the decades-long war on drugs and its discriminatory impact on people of color. The legislature listened to calls by workers and advocates to create an industry centered on equity. From the creation of a social equity fund, to requiring labor peace for cannabis license holders, this places New York on the forefront of social equity nationally. We thank the legislature for prioritizing the needs of workers and the community and look forward to swift signature into law.”
John R. Durso, President of Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW, said: “Local 338, New York’s cannabis union, has organized almost 500 workers in the medical cannabis industry in New York, setting standards across the industry that benefit workers and their families. Our contracts in the medical cannabis industry have established full-time careers with family-sustaining wages, affordable and quality health care, workplace health and safety standards, funding for retirement and more. It is our priority that the 30,000-60,000 jobs created in our State’s adult use industry meet the same standard as those in the medical cannabis industry. The MRTA, will help to do just that, by ensuring access to opportunity at every level of this brand-new industry, including for the thousands of New Yorkers who will be entering it as workers. We commend the work of the New York Senate and Assembly on passage of this critical bill today and look forward to it being signed by Governor Cuomo.”
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The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents 100,000 members throughout the United States. The RWDSU is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). For more information, please visit our website at www.rwdsu.org, Facebook:/RWDSU.UFCW Twitter:@RWDSU.