A recently passed Washington State House Bill permits agricultural workers to unionize under the supervision of Washington’s Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC).
On April 22, 2025, the Governor signed House Bill 1141, which becomes effective on July 27, 2025. House Bill 1141 places certain cannabis agricultural employees under the jurisdiction of PERC, providing a process and protections for unionization. The covered workers include anyone employed for the purposes of cultivating, growing, harvesting, or producing cannabis, including defoliating, drying, bucking, precuring, curing, trimming, sorting, and loading, if performed on a farm. While many cannabis retailers in the State have unionized in recent years, that unionization was under the purview of the National Labor Relations Board, which administers the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). However, the NLRA specifically excludes agricultural workers from its scope, and therefore, the workers now included in HB 1141 were previously not provided the procedural benefits of either public or private sector labor laws.
HB 1141 also provides a fast-track to union recognition. Under the new law, the commission is directed to hold an election when a prospective bargaining representative presents written proof that at least 30 percent of the employees within the unit are represented by the prospective bargaining representative. However, if the prospective bargaining unit can present proof that it represents at least 50 percent of the employees within the unit, PERC must hold an “election” by a “cross-check” process, where the commission compares the employee organization’s membership records or authorization cards against the employer’s employment records. No ballots are sent to employees; the signature cards previously signed in support of the petition count as their vote. This “cross-check” process would therefore preclude any meaningful campaign by the employer.
House Bill 1141 prohibits employers from refusing to engage in collective bargaining with the union’s exclusive bargaining representative. Further, like other private sector employers under the NLRA, agricultural cannabis employers are prevented from interfering with its employees’ right to form a union, dominate or control the bargaining representative, or discriminating against an employee for filing an unfair labor practice. Employers should be cautioned that PERC decisions have, in many respects, tracked changes in interpretation at the federal level, which in recent years have provided unprecedented protection to employees when evaluating concepts such as “interference,” “domination,” and “discrimination.” Tread carefully.
Key Takeaways
- Agricultural employees specifically engaged in cannabis cultivation now may unionize under the purview of PERC.
- A ballot election will be held upon a showing of 30 percent interest, and with over 50 percent interest will result in a “cross-check” (i.e., verification) of authorization cards. If those cards are valid, the union will be deemed successful.
- Employers subject to this law have an obligation to bargain in good faith with the employee’s exclusive bargaining representative. Employees continue to have rights to engage in protected concerted activities.
- Employers should consider training managers on how to respond to employees engaged in unionization efforts or other concerted activities.
Miller Nash’s traditional labor law team is ready to support cannabis employers with navigating options in relation to this new law.
The legal issues impacting this topic are and will continue to be ever-changing (Employment Law in Motion!), and since publication of this blog post, new or additional information not referenced in this blog post may be available.
This article is provided for informational purposes only—it does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the firm and the reader. Readers should consult legal counsel before taking action relating to the subject matter of this article.
