Still no compassion for workers at Greenleaf dispensary in Portsmouth
“Quite honestly, [contract negotiations] have kind of stalled,” said Parker Terrell, a member of the Greenleaf Compassion Center union negotiating team. “We’re still facing a lot of retaliation from Seth. We still have a lot of unjust terminations and wrongful terminations.”
April 20, 2022, 8:22 am
By Steve Ahlquist
It’s been just over a year since the workers at Greenleaf Compassion Center voted to unionize and negotiations began with Greenleaf CEO Seth Block.
“Quite honestly, things have kind of stalled,” said Parker Terrell, a member of the Greenleaf Compassion Center union negotiating team. “We’re still facing a lot of retaliation from Seth. We still have a lot of unjust terminations and wrongful terminations.”
See previous coverage here:
- No compassion for workers at Greenleaf dispensary in Portsmouth
- Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center workers vote to unionize
- Greenleaf bosses fold, meet union demands in Portsmouth
The lack of a contract means that the situation for Greenleaf workers hasn’t changed much.
“We’ve gotten a few things,” said Parker. “We’ve gotten tips, which is great, we really appreciate it, and we have seen some movement within the contract negotiations [but] within the last few months it’s really stalled out.”
Watch the full interview here:
Within the last two months, said the union, Bock has terminated four Greenleaf employees without just cause and without due process. To the union, these actions reek of retaliation and further complaints have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Bock, says the union, is negotiating in bad faith.
Today, on 420, Greenleaf workers are handing out flyers to their customers, to show Bock that the community and their customers support the workers. 420 (April 20) has become an unofficial marijuana holiday over the last few decades, though the origin of the association between 420 and marijuana is somewhat obscure.
420 “is one of the busiest days we have all year,” said Terrell. “We’ve been having sales all this week, with really great deals. It’s a really great time for people to come in to meet us at the store and check things out. There’s a bunch of new products coming out – it is really exciting.
“And that one of the reasons we didn’t walk off today. We came in, we’re doing our jobs, but we’re also taking the time to meet our community and have that conversation.”
