Name: The Teamsters Want to Unionize the Cannabis Industry
Uploaded: 2024-10-14T13:30:07.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The Teamsters Want to Unionize the Cannabis Industry' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-10-14. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The Teamsters Want to Unionize the Cannabis Industry' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-10-14. Transcript available.

- Is the union growing?
- It's growing.
We've organized, just the teams alone in two and a half years,
organized 50,000 new members.
And we're organizing in traditional industries.
But I know for a fact you've probably never done this.
You've probably never smoked weed.
But we are organizing in the cannabis industry
where there's 425,000 W-2 employees nationwide.
- Bud slaves, they call 'em.
A lot of people are calling 'em.
Yeah, because they're not unionized.
- No, and we have organized, I think we've got 2,000--
- We've got even in hammocks.
- We've got 2,000 of them organized, I think,
throughout the whole country.
So they're into cultivation.
There's workers that are in warehousing,
and then they're gonna be in distribution.
So all in our warehouse are what we're doing.
There's 425,000 of them.
- Is that one of your largest growing sectors?
- It's, well, yeah, I mean--
- Sector of the term, or what is it?
- It's divisions.
- Is that one of the largest growing divisions?
- Well, we're hopeful it will.
I mean, we're doing a lot of things differently where,
you know, once this is legalized nationwide,
which I think both candidates are supportive of legalizing it,
you're gonna see, and the safe banking laws have changed
where, again, these companies can put money
into actual banks.
You're gonna see private equity come out and try and buy up
all these smaller companies where what we're doing is
we're working with a private equity fund,
utilizing contributions from our pension funds
and investments in our pension funds.
- To be the buyer of them?
- To be the buyer of them.
- Let's go.
- And obviously, you know, organize within this industry.
So there's 425,000.
- Is it a conflict of interest, though, to be an owner?
- No, we're not an owner.
It would be the private equity firm that we invest in.
So it's not uncommon.
We do it all the time in other industries.
Like-- - Would you still make the best deal for your--
- Oh, we're gonna make the best deal
because think about it.
A lot of times in pension funds and health and welfare funds,
we make investments off contributions
because, you know, that's what you're supposed to do, right?
And it's usually a pretty dynamic asset allocation.
You invest in real estate.
You invest in private equity.
You rest in stocks.
You invest in bonds and stuff like that or infrastructure.
So think about investing in--
A lot of times, especially with private equity,
you know, you're investing in competitors,
non-union competitors that could potentially
put good companies out of business.
So we're taking a different look at it now
and approach and say,
"Look, why don't we invest in the industries
that we actually represent?"
And instead of investing in our demise,
we invest in areas where we can help.
So, for instance, 30% of this portfolio
will be dedicated towards a cannabis investment,
and the other 70% will be
in all kinds of other investments, right?
We're hoping to raise a billion dollars
by January or February of 2025.
And that gives us the opportunity as well.
It's like if there's a distressed company out there,
like a small business that's unionized,
or even a big business like Yellow Freight,
who went out of business
because they couldn't get financing
because it was a greedy private equity firm
known as Apollo.
If we had this fund up and running,
you know, a couple of years ago,
we could have bought Apollo's position out
at $600 million, restructure the company,
and actually keep 22,000 jobs, right?
So, we're doing creative,
innovative stuff like that as well, you know.
- You have to.
- Oh, you have to because, like I said,
we're a lot more sophisticated,
and our members deserve the investments
we're gonna make on their behalf.
And how, and like you look at the cannabis industry,
for instance, right?
If it doesn't get organized,
what future do people have going to work there?
So, we organize them, we negotiate contracts
that have healthcare, that have retirement benefits.
We're not just creating a job,
we're creating careers for people, right?
- Right.
- Cultivation, warehousing, distribution.
I mean, you know, that's what we should be doing.
- That's fascinating.
- Yeah, that's really interesting.
Yeah, and I can't believe that's one of the biggest growing,
that that's one of the largest growing.
- So, they're saturated heavily.
- It's like one of the largest growing sectors
for you, divisions.
- They're saturated heavily with licenses nationwide.
- Right.
- And that's a good thing,
but they're capital poor right now.
So, they're waiting for this, you know,
legalization federally,
and the safe banking laws to change.
And you're gonna see, you know, a grab.
And if we're not controlling that grab,
you know, the best interests of these workers
are not gonna be at hand.
So, we wanna make sure, first and foremost,
that's what we're doing.
We don't, we're not, you know, really concerned with,
you know, doing double-digit return on investments.
We're concerned on taking care of these workers that work
in this industry and making certain that they have
the ability to have a career if they choose.
- But how crazy that it's even come to that also,
that now, in order to ensure that the workers are gonna be safe,
you, that the company, that the organization making them safe,
also wants to be a vested interest in the,
like, you know what I'm saying?
- You have to have skin in the game.
You got to have skin in the game.
- It makes sense, but it's crazy that you would,
that people wouldn't just think,
yes, we need to take care of the workers.
- Yeah, well, so again, you get back to corporate greed.
You know, you get back to the bottom line of a balance sheet
before people.
- How, say in the weed organization, right?
Say the people that work in, for weed companies,
how do they become part of the union?
How does someone who's working somewhere, who feels like,
okay, I'm not supported, or maybe I'm at a place
that should be supported, how do they approach you guys
to be, hopefully, potentially be part of the union?
- They'll go to a local, they'll go to a local union,
like a Teams is local, and they'll, you know.
- Okay, so start at a local level.
- Yeah, they'll, they'll, they'll go to a local level,
talk to the local union.
Local union will either send in their organizer,
we'll provide an organizer for them.
They'll go out, talk to the workers,
establish a relationship, establish trust,
and have them sign authorization cards,
meaning they want to join the union.
And especially in the cannabis industry,
I think we've gotten more card check recognition,
because I think two things, they know that,
you know, we can strike them for recognition.
And two, they know that we have this ability to,
you know, make investments in their businesses
as time goes on, once this fund is created.
And it's good, it's good for the industry,
because think about it, we're going to regulate
that industry, right?
So if we don't organize them, you know,
the mom and pop that are charging X amount,
and I've never done drugs in my life,
I don't even know, I've never smoked weed or anything else.
- I've done them, they're all right.
- Yeah, I mean, they're all right.
- Yeah, I mean, I didn't do them,
because I probably would have fucking loved them.
- Oh yeah, dude.
- But, you know, I don't know, but, you know,
you don't want to undercut each other in this industry,
where it's a race to the bottom.
So there are a lot of employers out there
that have welcomed us in because of that reason.
Like, we don't want to sell a gummy, you know,
25 cents cheaper than the guy down the street.
So, you know, we've actually regulated this industry
to a certain point.
But the other thing too, which is very important
in this industry is continuity of employees, right?
So if you are providing employees with a union contract,
good wages, good benefits, you know,
there's not going to be a turnover ratio, right?
You know, when we first started this organizing campaign,
we were seeing, you know, 20, 21-year-old kids that,
you know, they weren't stealing a banana,
they were sampling the product, right?
- Oh yeah.
- And they'd get, you know, fired or they'd leave.
So, you know, we've actually instilled some stability
in this industry, just because they know
there's an opportunity.
And they're organized and there's a contract
and, you know, there's a future.
- Yeah, I think then you feel like you're part of something.
- Absolutely.
- You know, which is the same thing like in,
which goes back to our conversation about America,
just like feeling like you're a part of something,
feeling like, you know, I think it used to feel
like your country was unionized, you know?
It definitely felt like that when I was a kid
and we haven't catered to that, you know?
And our leaders haven't catered to that
and our decision makers haven't catered to that.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.
- Yeah, I think it's the same thing.