Lawsuit Aims To Strike Down Oregon’s New Cannabis Labor Peace Law

Two Oregon cannabis companies have filed suit to try to overturn a recently passed ballot measure that requires labor peace agreements. 

Measure 119, sponsored by UFCW Local 555, passed in November with the support of 57% of voters. It requires cannabis retailers and processors to sign labor peace agreements pledging to remain neutral in union organizing campaigns in order to obtain or renew their license to do business in Oregon. 

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit — filed Feb. 12 in U.S. District Court in Portland — are Bubble’s Hash, a marijuana processor on 4605 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy., and Ascend Dispensary at 13836 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland. Fisher Phillips, one of the nation’s top union-busting law firms, is handling the case, assigning attorneys Stephen M. Scott, Todd Lyon, and Janelle Debes. Newly installed Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield will defend the law.

Plaintiffs argue that the law violates cannabis employers’ free speech rights. They also argue that the state law is preempted by a federal law, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), citing a 1959 Supreme Court case called San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, in which the court ruled that states may not legislate on subjects covered by the NLRA.

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