Workers at AgriKind, a cannabis growing operation in Chester, are not allowed to unionize because they are agricultural workers, writes Sam Wood for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A trimmer and a cultivation associate tried to establish a union shop there under the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 (UFCW).

But the National Labor Relations Board ruled the two workers “are exempt because they each substantially engage in the primary agricultural functions of harvesting, pruning, and sorting of plant,” the NLRB wrote.

Agricultural and farm workers are exempt from federal labor laws which permit the formation of unions.

Wendell Young, the president of the UFCW 1776, said they will continue trying to organize employees at AgriKind because there is still a large active group of employees that want to unionize.

By mid-March, AgriKind hopes to double the amount of cannabis it cultivates, and will hire 60 more workers.  

Its parent company has an interest with one of the Pennsylvania Clinical Registrant growers. The growers are working with Drexel University on medical marijuana studies. It plans to open a marijuana dispensary in Chester this March.

Read more about a ruling banning workers from unionizing at a Chester marijuana grower in The Philadelphia Inquirer.