ESCANABA — Lume dispensary workers in Escanaba voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473, marking the first time a cannabis shop in the Upper Peninsula voted to unionize. Eighteen budtenders or “luminaries,” including lead budtenders, make up the unionized staff at the store, with 14 workers voting yes to join the union.

The UFCW is America’s largest cannabis union.

“UFCW Local 1473 is the cannabis union in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and all of Wisconsin. These workers saw the importance of union representation and have stood together in solidarity to form their very own union. You can see by the outcome of the vote earlier today that these workers have remained steadfast at gaining a true voice in the workplace. We are proud to take the next step with the workers and bargain their first agreement,” said UFCW Local 1473 President Jake Bailey.

Amanda Levesque, a Lume luminary who was part of the organizing process, said,“Today we showed the world that when workers stand together, we win. I’m so proud of my fellow budtenders for coming together to make the decision to pave a new path by being the first cannabis shop in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to vote for union representation. We hope to inspire cannabis workers across the state and the country to join together to fight for a more just and prosperous future for the industry.”

UFCW Local 1473 is part of the UFCW International, the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in cannabis, grocery, meatpacking, food processing, healthcare, retail and other essential industries in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico.