Nearly 500 Eaze cannabis workers ratified a new three-year contract with United Food and Commercial Workers Union following months of corporate upheaval and wage rug pulls that pushed many employees to the brink.
The agreement, announced Friday by UFCW Locals 5, 135, 324 and 770, guarantees fair wages with raises retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025, employer contributions to health benefits, and indexed mileage reimbursement for delivery drivers.
“With this contract ratification victory, Eaze cannabis delivery drivers can put the uncertainty of the past few months behind us,” said Ron Swallow, an Eaze delivery driver from Van Nuys, in the union’s statement.
The new contract could pave the way for improved relations between Eaze and its workforce nearly a year after drivers nearly threatened to go on strike ahead of the lucrative 4/20 cannabis holiday. That dispute revolved around compensation issues, particularly the company’s reduction of mileage reimbursement rates to 40 cents per mile, below the federal recommendation of 67 cents.
“This contract improves everyone’s working conditions significantly and places us in an excellent position for the next fight,” an Eaze driver told Green Market Report after the April 2024 negotiations, crediting the strike threat for forcing concessions from the company.
This latest development comes after a tumultuous period following the California-based cannabis delivery giant’s corporate restructuring from Stachs LLC to Eaze Inc. of California LLC, which forced warehouse employees who weren’t part of the union class to reapply for their jobs, often at substantially lower wages.
“I basically took a $12 pay cut,” Mattew Sit, a former inventory supervisor who worked at the company’s Sacramento depot until late January, told Green Market Report. “They basically started me at like minimum wage, and it’s like, OK, well, you know, I can’t live like that.”
When he attempted to negotiate his rate, management was inflexible. He said he was told, “You need to understand you’re working for a new company now,” despite his four years of service managing inventory and compliance.
The former supervisor described how workplace conditions became particularly stressful at the beginning of January 2025, when the company formally transitioned to its new entity with a dramatically reduced workforce.
“The beginning of the year honestly was probably the most stressful time I’ve ever had being there,” Sit said. “We just continued as normal – didn’t shut down for a day, didn’t go over anything. And to be doing the sales that we had with no people or handling training new people, it’s hard.”
To compensate for wage cuts, Sit said he resorted to “working six days a week, making as much overtime as I could to make up for what I was lacking.” Ironically, only after submitting his resignation did management offer to match his new job’s salary, he claimed.
Warehouse workers found themselves managing multiple roles simultaneously in the skeleton crew operation.
The turbulence really picked up when Stachs LLC, a subsidiary of Eaze Technologies, announced it would wind down operations by the end of 2024. Eaze found reprieve when tech billionaire James Clark’s FoundersJT purchased the company’s assets at auction for $54 million in August 2024, followed by an additional $10 million investment announced in November.
CEO Cory Azzalino cited “ongoing challenges of the California cannabis market” as the main factor in the company’s difficulties, despite conspiracy claims by former owners. The company’s recovery strategy now hinges heavily on its Florida operations, Azzalino recently told Green Market Report, noting the company was close to cashflow break-even and had already made significant capital investments there.
Azzalino also highlighted a strategic pivot to scheduled delivery services to expand market reach.
However, Sit said that employees were kept in the dark about major developments.
“We didn’t even know about the auction until it was reported,” he said. Workers were initially told in October that the transition would be “just a name change” but later discovered the significant restructuring implications just weeks before implementation.
The former supervisor also noted how many union advocates weren’t rehired during restructuring, particularly those who had organized with Teamsters in March 2024. “If only two of the 30 got hired back,” the source said, referring to union organizers, “it seems a little bit … calculated.”
Sit attempted to connect with one of the key Teamsters organizers but found him “very checked out about dealing with any of the Eaze stuff,” suggesting the toll the prolonged labor struggle has taken on some union advocates.
Unlike other Eaze locations, the Sacramento depot was not unionized, creating additional complications for workers there during the transition.
The new agreement acknowledges employees’ prior service with Stachs and includes protections for workers in the event of future ownership changes. UFCW represents nearly 600 Eaze/Stachs workers and more than 6,000 cannabis workers throughout California.
“The workers at Eaze stood strong through uncertainty and came out with a contract that protects their wages, benefits and rights,” UFCW Local 135 Secretary-Treasurer Grant Tom said in a Friday news release. “This agreement shows the power of union solidarity and ensures these cannabis workers have a voice on the job as the industry evolves.”
[[{“value”:”The new agreement includes retroactive raises following company restructuring that slashed employee wages.
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