CUMBERLAND — Workers at The Apothecarium cannabis dispensary say they will continue to fight for dignity, respect and a fair contract.
On Friday, The Apothecarium employees, members of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 27 and community allies picketed outside the business as it held a reopening celebration “to expose the company’s year-long campaign of union-busting, retaliation and exploitation of cannabis workers,” the union said via press release.
“They had simply replaced a few wet ceiling tiles, painted a few rooms, which led to multiple workers filing workers compensation claims due to headaches, nausea, dizziness, vomiting and more from exposure to paint fumes, and called it a remodel,” the union said of the “grand reopening.”
TerrAscend, parent company of The Apothecarium, did not respond to a Cumberland Times-News request for comment this week.
Last year, workers at the Cumberland dispensary voted unanimously to unionize with Local 27.
“Their reasons were clear: poor management, unfair treatment, low pay and chaotic working conditions. Instead of respecting that decision, The Apothecarium has doubled down on mistreatment, firing outspoken union supporters, intimidating employees and dragging its feet at the bargaining table,” the press release stated.
“Despite grossing over $1 million a month at the Cumberland location, The Apothecarium pays its workers just $16.50 an hour,” it stated.
“After a full year of stalling, the company has refused to agree to even the most basic protections, including just cause, leaving workers vulnerable to being fired without reason.”
“This company has treated cannabis workers with nothing but disdain and disrespect,” Jason Chorpening, president of Local 27, said via the release.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “When a company makes millions off the backs of workers but refuses to guarantee basic rights like just cause protections, it shows they have no respect for working people or this community.”
If The Apothecarium won’t treat its employees fairly, “we will have to soon call on the hardworking people of this community to shop elsewhere for their medicine until they do,” Chorpening said. “This town has a proud union tradition, and we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these workers.”
FumesIn August, the union said an air-quality monitor installed by the company showed that volatile organic compounds were elevated enough to potentially cause headaches, dizziness, throat or eye irritation for sensitive people.
“Multiple workers have reported these symptoms over the course of the last 45 days,” Local 27 said via press release at that time.
The company “painted for the third or fourth time overnight and have still not come up with an appropriate way to abate the fumes and vapors.”
The Apothecarium “has not closed for one day, has not delayed opening for any number of hours, has not properly addressed concerns of the workers and has not even clearly acknowledged the fact that some of these workers have been made ill,” the union said.
Employee Zoe Rosedale said the paint fumes caused some of her co-workers to be “dizzy, lightheaded and nauseous.”
She said she has asthma and bronchitis.
“My immediate reaction when walking into the store was how awful it smelled,” Rosedale said.
It “smelled like rotten milk and left a film in my mouth the entire time I was there.”
She said she was coughing, felt nauseous and had heartburn symptoms.
Rosedale said while she was working, a supervisor asked her how she was doing.
“I immediately broke into tears and was telling him how not OK I was,” she said, adding that the supervisor agreed with her request to go home.”
“Once I left the store, I immediately started to feel better,” Rosedale said.
ComplaintsDue to the paint fumes, several workers were unable to complete their shifts or return to work the following day, the union said via press release.
“Workers have also reported that they were required to use their own paid time off to recover, despite asserting that the illnesses were directly caused by the working environment.”
In response, several employees filed complaints with the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the union said.
“Both agencies have confirmed receipt of complaints and an active investigation is currently underway (and) workers have spoken with elected officials and with workers comp lawyers.”
Workers requested the company provide information during painting in July, but didn’t receive it until weeks later, the union said.
“Federal and state laws require that an employer immediately provide safety data sheets to workers upon request when chemicals are being used at their workplace,” Local 27 said.
“These incidents come amid a larger labor dispute, as workers at the Cumberland location voted in August 2024 to unionize with UFCW Local 27,” the union said and claimed TerrAscend delayed bargaining efforts and refused to agree to basic contract standards including just-cause protections.
The union said it wants to stop all chemical or painting activity inside the facility without third-party clearance, restore paid time off taken by workers for illness related to the incidents, and have good-faith bargaining toward a first union contract.
“These workers showed up to do their jobs, and instead they got sick, Chorpenning said.
“The company has a responsibility to provide a safe workplace,” he said. “No worker should be made to use their own paid time off just to recover from something they were exposed to on the job. We’re not going to stop fighting until the workers get justice, safety and a fair contract.”