The British Columbia General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) is entering their 2nd week of Job Action as the organization that represents over 33,000 workers across the province of British Columbia.
With a strike beginning early last week, many workers are classified as “essential” and don’t have an option to walk off the job. But they are being called upon to refuse overtime hours to convey the message of understaffing, high turnover and excessive workloads relying on voluntary overtime hours to complete the jobs in positions lacking staff.
How does this play into Western Canadian cannabis? Well in British Columbia, the BCGEU represents the only legal facility that plays an intermediary between producers and dispensaries, distributing wholesale from cultivars to retail shelves across the province of British Columbia.
According to the High Times, regulators are in talks to simplify the process allowing producers to sell directly to dispensaries; however until this is settled, the province of British Columbia is likely to see inventory levels dwindle and storefronts to close shop until products are available to order.
Marigold Cannabis in Vancouver reports they have a window of 2 weeks for the strike to settle. “If it lasts more than two weeks, then we are probably looking at closing down the store because there is nothing to sell,” reported Jacob Michalow, Assistant Manager.
In response to the pending closures and cannabis shortages within the province, cannabis delivery sites and mail order services across Western Canada are offering massive deals to recapture some of the market that is currently fumbling an opportunity to build loyal customers.
We spoke to the marketing team at one Calgary Weed Delivery service – Supherbs. “We’re extending our free delivery across the province of British Columbia throughout the duration of the BCGEU strike. While we like to think a lot of cannabis consumption is for enjoyment, there’s a large number of patients in the province that use cannabis for it’s medical properties and a quick, safe and cost effective avenue to get medicine is important to our team. We want to set an example for reliability where others are dropping the ball so to speak”.
