Approximately 30 different companies signed labor peace agreements with the non-bona fide union Professional Technical Union, Local 33, including large, well-known brands, according to a list of licensees analyzed by CRB Monitor.
Last month, the California Agriculture Labor Relations Board declared Professional Technical Union, Local 33, (Pro-Tech 33) to be not “bona fide” under the state’s Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. After that ruling, the California Department of Cannabis Control said it sent notices to 90 licensees that had signed LPAs with Pro-Tech to alert them that those agreements were null and void and they had 90 days to comply with the LPA requirement to keep their licenses valid.
CRB Monitor obtained that list from the state. It technically listed 90 licenses, with many entities owning more than one license type, for example a dispensary/retail license, a wholesale/distribution license and a manufacturing/processor license. Several entities were owned by a single company or by the same investors, according to CRB Monitor’s database.
In total, CRB Monitor identified 48 separate entities owned by approximately 30 companies, either doing business as the same company or with similar ownership structures, holding the licenses in question. These companies include Calyx Peak Companies, Glass House Brands, SPARC and Herbl, which is in receivership.
Bosim 1628 Management Company LLC, doing business as Local Cannabis Co., is owned and managed by Calyx Peak Cos. Located in Carpenteria in Santa Barbara County, Bosim 1628 held the most licenses — 14, one delivery/transportation license and the rest for cultivation. Calyx Peak Cos. also holds cannabis business licenses in Massachusetts and Missouri.
Glass House Brands, a vertically integrated company that is accused in a lawsuit of allegedly diverting flower to the illicit market, owns three licensees that the state says has LPAs with Pro-Tech: Farmacy SB Inc. in Santa Barbara, Sbdank LLC in Santa Ynez and The Pottery Inc. in Los Angeles. Additionally, Glass House investor Graham Farrar is also invested in another licensee notified by the DCC, Bud and Bloom in Santa Ana. Farrar and other Glass House representatives did not return emails.
SPARC retailers Farm Direct (Miparc Inc.), Responsible Patient Care Inc. and Love Shack (Loparc LLC), as well as WWCMC Inc., a Santa-Rosa-based manufacturer and wholesaler, held a total six licenses on the list. Emails to company representatives were unreturned.
Another big license holder is a group of investors in six entities that held a total 10 licenses: NCC Brisbane LLC, an Amuse dispensary in San Mateo; GB2 LLC, a vertically integrated microbusiness in Santa Rosa; and Santa Rosa cultivators 4B LLC, 5A LLC, QPC Management Services and SRBD LLC. Not all investors were in all companies, but a handful were. Emails to individuals seeking comment bounced back.
Herbl also had three active wholesale/distribution licenses. A fourth one on the state’s list had expired. Herbl reportedly was taken into receivership after failing to pay a loan to East West Bank after struggling to collect income from vendors.
There were also many individual businesses on the list. Emails to representatives of nearly all of the businesses were either unreturned or bounced back.
A woman named Michaela, who responded to an email seeking comment from Urban Therapies Manufacturing in San Diego, said she was a consultant who works for an attorney and “can’t” answer questions about the Pro-Tech LPA.
Danna Tabachnik, a spokeswoman for Nabitwo LLC, a wholesale/distributor doing business as Nabis in Humboldt County, emailed, “Thanks for reaching out! We don’t have anything to provide at this time but will definitely circle back if anything changes.”
Eden Enterprises denies working with Pro-Tech 33
One company that did respond to a request for comment was Eden Enterprises. Three Garden of Eden retailers and Eden Infusions were on the state’s Pro-Tech 33 LPA list.
“All Eden entities do not, and have never, had an LPA or any relationship with Pro-Tech 33. The licensees who were issued notices have requested the rescinding and retraction of these notices by the DCC,” Director of Compliance Zoe Schreiber said in an email.
“All Eden entities that are required to have LPAs are in bonafide agreements with a nationally recognized union although many of our operations do not meet the staffing criteria to require LPAs and shall be in compliance if and when those businesses require,” she continued.
CDCC spokesman David Hafner previously said the list comprised licensees identified by department records and information provided by Pro-Tech. Hafner said he would reach out to the licensing team, but he was not able to confirm before deadline where the state got the information about Eden’s LPAs and whether other licensees denied signing agreements with Pro-Tech.
Three Habitat Consulting signs affidavit
Notably absent from the list were any entities operated by Three Habitat Consulting, which is majority-owned by Canada-based Captor Capital Corp. It was their Palm Springs store’s agreement with Pro-Tech that led the Teamsters to file its complaint with the ALRB against Pro-Tech.
The Palm Springs store was not operational during the board’s investigation and remains so. Ryan Bishara, vice president of operations at Captor Retail Group, told CRB Monitor the company has since reached out to the City of Palm Springs and signed an attestation about its intention to sign a new LPA if the store resumes operations and meets the minimum threshold of employees. He said Palm Springs’ requirements go “above and beyond the state.”
When asked if Three Habitat plans to re-open the store, he replied Captor Capital is a publicly traded company and he “cannot make forward-looking statements.”
Patrick Calihan, attorney for Pro-Tech 33, did not respond to a question asking if the union has appealed the labor board’s ruling. Pro-Tech officials previously said that the ruling only forbids them from entering into LPAs with cannabis companies in California and they will continue to organize workers nationwide as a legitimate organization under the National Labor Relations Act.
