About 20 Verilife employees in Ottawa will be represented by the Teamsters. Fifteen voted yes to Local 777. The employees there say of two unions they considered, the Teamsters made a far better case.
Ashley Birdsell is a cannabis sales consultant. She doesn’t sense any labor-management tension but says the workers at the dispensary want to make sure they’re getting a fair share of the growing cannabis economy. She felt a personal connection with the Teamsters representative who talked with her.
Inventory Specialist Caitlin Pedersen says the Teamsters union has a lot of experience in many lines of work, so it should be able to represent workers in a new one. Also, daily contact with a union representative convinces her that she and her coworkers will have support.
Of the employees who didn’t vote for the union, Pedersen says some didn’t return ballots and those who started during approximately the last two months weren’t eligible to vote. She doubts any were interested in the other union. She says the other union didn’t show interest in the employees.
Teamsters Local 777 spokesman Matt McQuaid says the National Labor Relations Board certified the vote immediately Friday, but either side has a week to ten days to file an objection. The local also represents workers at Verilife locations in Chicago and Arlington Heights.