About 100 workers at Cresco Labs in Joliet are eligible to vote today in an early test pro-labor provisions in Illinois’ weed law. Will other pot employees follow?

Count organized labor among those who see opportunity in the recreational weed business.  

About 100 of the 130 workers at a Cresco Labs cultivation facility in Joliet are eligible to vote tomorrow on whether to join the United Food & Commercial Workers union.

It’s the second time a union has tried to organize workers at a cannabis company since lawmakers voted to make Illinois the 11th state to allow recreational use of marijuana. An election last month by the Teamsters to organize workers at a Rock Island cultivation center run by Green Thumb Industries narrowly failed, 26-30.

Weed is estimated to become a $2 billion to $3 billion industry in Illinois, with up to 65,000 jobs at cannabis companies themselves, as well as ancillary businesses. Lawmakers made sure labor would be part of it, by including “labor peace” agreements as a criteria for awarding new licenses.

“We think this is the first of many (elections) to come,” said Zach Koutsky, legislative and political director for Local 881 of the UFCW, which represents about 34,000 workers, mostly in the grocery industry. “We see this as setting the tone going forward for the industry. We think workers should have every right and ability to stand up for themselves and their co-workers.” [Read More @ Crain’s Chicago Business]