NLRB accuses Shangri-La cannabis dispensary of dozens of illegal Labor practices

Employer engaged in union-busting tactics earlier this year

Columbia, MO — The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is accusing Shangri-La dispensary in Columbia of numerous violations of labor law for aggressively fighting a union organizing campaign in the late spring of 2023. The NLRB is the Federal agency tasked with enforcing employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

In early 2023, employees of Shangri-La approached United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 — the only local union in Missouri to successfully organize cannabis workers — about forming a union. Many of the employees attempting to exercise their legal right to organize were unfairly terminated, threatened with suspension and termination, and repeatedly harassed by management, according to the sweeping allegations made by the NLRB.

The accusations, detailed in a Complaint filed by the NLRB earlier this week, will be adjudicated in a hearing conducted by an NLRB administrative law judge. UFCW Local 655 President David Cook said the accusations against Shangri-La demonstrate how far some employers will go to stop employees from gaining more power at work, but also prove that workers are most successful when united.

“These are workers who successfully voted to organize their workplace and join a union despite their employer doing everything they could to stop them,” Cook said. “We will not stand by as workers who fight for their legal rights at work are fired or harassed by management.”

UFCW Local 655 is the largest union in the state of Missouri, representing some 8,500 members working throughout the eastern half of Missouri. Local 655’s members are employed in food stores (its largest single division), shoe manufacturing, packinghouses, distribution centers and a number of miscellaneous plants.