Local dispensary fighting for union bargaining rights

SALISBURY, Md. -Apothecarium Employees, like Brian Guldan have been weathering the heat since Saturday, holding signs and garnering attention.

For three days, he, and his colleagues have been picketing outside, calling for, what Guldan said, is their right to fair bargaining.

“Most of our employees worked here before TerrAscend bought this place, and since then, we’ve seen a change,” said Guldan.

In October, Apothecarium employees voted to unionize under United Food & Commercial Workers International Union Local 27.

In a statement, UFCW said the dispensary’s parent company, TerrAscend has,”…Refused to bargain in good faith, they’ve dragged their feet, and they won’t event agree to a basic just cause clause.”

WMDT reached out to TerrAscend for comment, but did not hear back. Meanwhile, Guldan said employees are continuing to fight for their rights.

“We used to be able to spend more time with the patients and getting them through,” said Guldan. “That’s not always like that anymore, so we feel, Local 27 feels, being unionized will help us help our patients, and do right by Maryland law.”

And some patrons, like Drick Cadichon, supported the cause, signing the UFCW’s petition.

With the state’s growing marijuana market, he said he believes unionizing is in the best interest of the company and its employees.

“The workers are the ones who are servicing the people day-to-day, so I feel like we should help these people, because they’re the ones helping us,” said Cadichon.