United Campaign Workers

Last updated

United Campaign Workers is a union for canvassers, including street fundraisers, and paid petitioners for ballot initiatives. It is an organizing project of the Industrial Workers of the World, that publicly spread to three political campaigns in the summer of 2014 in Portland, Oregon.

The project began when canvassers walked off the job at the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp, citing mismanagement and late paychecks. [1] [2] The campaign spread a few weeks later to Grassroots Campaigns, Inc., a fundraiser for NGOs and political action committees, with workers alleging violation of the Portland sick day ordinance, as well as extremely high turnover due to their $130 a day fundraising quota. [3] The campaign then spread to Fieldworks, LLC, a field organizing contractor. Union supporters discovered that the voter registration drive Fieldworks was employing them in was funded by AFSCME and several other trade unions. [4] The union has attracted controversy for militant demands submitted to management, including a demand for free medical marijuana from the chief petitioners of the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial Workers of the World</span> International labor union

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with industrial unionism, as it is a general union, subdivided between the various industries which employ its members. The philosophy and tactics of the IWW are described as "revolutionary industrial unionism", with ties to socialist, syndicalist, and anarchist labor movements.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hospitality; agriculture; cannabis; chemical trades; security; textile, and health care. UFCW is affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the AFL–CIO; it disaffiliated from the AFL–CIO in 2005 but reaffiliated in 2013. UFCW is also affiliated to UNI Global Union and the IUF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Service Employees International Union</span> North American trade union

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare, including hospital, home care and nursing home workers; public services ; and property services.

New Seasons Market is a chain of neighborhood grocery stores operating in the Portland, Oregon metro area, and southwestern Washington. Some of the products offered are organic and produced locally in the Pacific Northwest, but conventional groceries are also sold.

The Fund for the Public Interest is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that runs the public fundraising and canvassing operations for politically liberal nonprofit organizations that advocate for issues such as environmental protection, consumer safeguards and public health in the United States. FFPI was set up in 1982 as the fundraising arm of the Public Interest Research Group (PIRGs). The Fund has faced lawsuits and complaints over its labor practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal history of cannabis in the United States</span>

In the United States, increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state, including 35 states that adopted the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act. The first national regulation was the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.

Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. is a for-profit corporation that does strategic consulting, and fund raising for humanitarian and progressive causes and political organizations. Grassroots Campaigns employs thousands of workers to generate small-donor contributions, increase visibility, and expand the membership base for a number of progressive groups, issues, and campaigns. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company was founded in December 2003 by a small team of experienced organizers who specialized in grassroots-level political and public interest organizing with groups like the Public Interest Research Group However, since its founding, it has consistently faced accusations of anti-union activity at odds with its stated progressive roots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in Oregon</span>

Cannabis in Oregon is legal for both medical and recreational use. In recent decades, the U.S. state of Oregon has had a number of legislative, legal and cultural events surrounding the use of cannabis. Oregon was the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis and authorize its use for medical purposes. An attempt to recriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis was turned down by Oregon voters in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Hempstalk Festival</span> Cannabis event in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Portland's Hempstalk Festival is an annual event in Portland, Oregon advocating decriminalization of marijuana for medicinal, industrial, and recreational use. Founded in 2005, the festival often takes place the weekend after Labor Day and features food vendors, live music, and information booths. The event has always been free to attend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in California</span>

Cannabis in California has been legal for medical use since 1996, and for recreational use since late 2016. The state of California has been at the forefront of efforts to liberalize cannabis laws in the United States, beginning in 1972 with the nation's first ballot initiative attempting to legalize cannabis. Although it was unsuccessful, California would later become the first state to legalize medical cannabis through the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which passed with 56% voter approval. In November 2016, California voters approved the Adult Use of Marijuana Act with 57% of the vote, which legalized the recreational use of cannabis.

Initiative 1068 was a proposed initiative for the November 2010 Washington state general election that would have removed criminal penalties from the adult use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana in Washington. Sponsored by Vivian McPeak, Douglass Hiatt, Jeffrey Steinborn, Philip Dawdy, initiative I-1068 sought to legalize marijuana by removing marijuana offenses from the state's controlled substances act, but failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Oregon Ballot Measure 80</span> Cannabis-related referendum

Oregon Ballot Measure 80, also known as the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, OCTA and Initiative-9, was an initiated state statute ballot measure on the November 6, 2012 general election ballot in Oregon. It would have allowed personal marijuana and hemp cultivation or use without a license and created a commission to regulate the sale of commercial marijuana. The act would also have set aside two percent of profits from cannabis sales to promote industrial hemp, biodiesel, fiber, protein, and oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Longshore and Warehouse Union</span> North American labor union

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, and in British Columbia, Canada; on the East Coast, the dominant union is the International Longshoremen's Association. The union was established in 1937 after the 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike, a three-month-long strike that culminated in a four-day general strike in San Francisco, California, and the Bay Area. It disaffiliated from the AFL–CIO on August 30, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Oregon Ballot Measure 91</span> Referendum legalizing marijuana

Oregon Ballot Measure 91 was a 2014 ballot measure in the U.S. state of Oregon. Its passage legalized the "recreational use of marijuana, based on regulation and taxation to be determined by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis on American Indian reservations</span>

Cannabis on American Indian reservations historically largely fell under the same regulations as cannabis nationwide in the United States. However, the August 2013 issuance of the Cole Memorandum opened discussion on tribal sovereignty as pertains to cannabis legalization, which was further explored as the states of Washington and Colorado legalized marijuana. A clarifying memo in December 2014 stated that the federal government's non-interference policies that applied to the 50 states, would also apply to the 326 recognized American Indian reservations. U.S. Attorney for Oregon, Amanda Marshall, stated that the clarification had been issued in response to legal questions from tribal nations, but that only three unnamed tribes, in California, Washington state, and "the Midwest" had stated explicit interest in legalizing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Stanford</span>

Paul Stanford is the founder of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF), THCF Medical Clinics, and the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp (CRRH).

The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF) was founded in 1999 by Paul Stanford in Portland, Oregon. To date, THCF has helped over 250,000 patients obtain a legal permit to use medical marijuana in the states where it is legal and where THCF has clinics. THCF is the largest chain of medical marijuana clinics in the U.S. with clinics operating in 12 states.

Dan Rush is an American former union organizer and former statewide political and special operations director of the United Food and Commercial Workers for cannabis and hemp workers. He was known for being a leader in the United States Labor movement in politics and for cannabis and hemp industry workers, and a civil and motorcycle rights activist. Rush began his career in the union in the 1980s as a senior official responsible for carrying out statewide ballot industry politics and eventually founded the concept of organizing medical cannabis and hemp workers in the United States and Canada. He was later investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for enriching himself at the expense of his union in 2015, and for cheating his clients by betraying them for bribes from other cannabis industry stakeholders. He took a plea bargain in 2017, pled guilty to three charges, and served a multiyear sentence in federal prison.

References

  1. Vanderhart, Dick. "With Deadlines Looming, Pot Campaign Faces Labor Demands and Complaints from a Rival Effort". The Portland Mercury. Index Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  2. Belville, Russ. "Oregon's Hemp Campaign Hit with Labor Complaints". HighTimes.com. High Times. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  3. Burley, Shane (August 13, 2014). "Street Canvassing for Good Causes: The Worst Job in Town?". In These Times. The Institute For Public Affairs. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  4. Burley, Shane (November 4, 2014). "Oregon Canvassers Workers Push for Unionization at Union-Funded Workplace". In These Times. The Institute For Public Affairs. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  5. Willson, Kate (June 13, 2014). "Canvassers for Marijuana Legalization Measures Form Union, Demand Free Pot". WWEEK.COM. Willamette Week. Retrieved December 22, 2014.