COLUMBIA − Shangri-La Dispensaries employees in south Columbia voted in favor of unionizing on Wednesday.
An election was held at the Family Life Center in Columbia. Votes came in favor by a count of six to five, but there are more than a dozen that could be challenged.
Sean Shannon, the cannabis organizing coordinator for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655, said only employees at the Shangri-La Peachtree location were eligible to vote.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) helped host the election and will hold meetings in the next few weeks to resolve the challenged votes.
Shannon said Wednesday’s vote marked the first part of a two-step election process for Shangri-La.
“This is an authorization vote, so they’re voting to allow UFCW Local 655 to negotiate on their behalf,” Shannon said.
UFCW Local 655 will hold a second vote sometime in the future, which will determine specific contract negotiations workers hope to achieve with Shangri-La.
“Only when they [Shangri-La employees] vote yes on a contract, with the majority of the workers voting yes, will they actually become official union partner,” Shannon said.
Shannon claimed one of the biggest things employees hope to get out of these negotiations is higher wages. Additionally, he said workers are also looking for job