Cultivation

Teamsters Back Cannabis Cultivation With Twenty New Scholarships

Workers’ union sponsors certification program to foster higher standards for cannabis workers

Published

3 years ago

April 26, 2022

Brad Cheng

Members of Teamster Local 1932 and guests gather for the ribbon-cutting of its training center in 2021 in San Bernadino, CA. The center will host a cannabis cultivation certification program sponsored by Local 1932. PHOTO COURTESY TEAMSTERS LOCAL 1932

Teamsters Local 1932 in Southern California’s Inland Empire region – a labor union of over 14,000 members – has announced the availability of twenty scholarships for a new cannabis cultivation training certification program based out of the union’s new training center in San Bernardino, CA.

The five-Week training program will award its graduates an industry-recognized certificate on “best practices for cannabis growing,” according to Local 1932, the shop that launched the program. The cannabis cultivation classes are focused on agriculture and the skills to reap successful harvests. Future courses are planned on job training for manufacturing and retail work in the legal cannabis industry. Worker’s rights play prominently among seminars from the Agricultural Labor Relations Board and experts on Occupational Safety and Health Administration policies, to educate students on safety and workplace rights.

International Brotherhood Of Teamsters logo. PHOTO PRNEWSFOTO

“This union is bringing together cannabis workers to improve this industry and is also creating pathways for workers to advance in the industry with education and certification,” said Randy Korgan, Local 1932 secretary-treasurer. “With a trained workforce, and our initiatives to involve union members in political action that will help this industry and its workers thrive, there are brighter days ahead for the industry.”

The first cannabis cultivators to organize were workers last year at the Adelanto, CA grow facility of medical cannabis provider, Israel-based Tikun Olam. The workers elected to join the Teamsters Union, becoming the first unionized cannabis cultivation workforce in Southern California. Tikun will be utilizing the cannabis cultivation training certification program for a new apprenticeship pathway, which includes hands-on experience.

By increasing the availability of training and certification to workers in Southern California, Teamsters Local 1932 aims to offer cannabis workers a way to further professionalize the industry’s cultivation workforce. For more information, visit https://www.teamsters1932.org/

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