phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES SEPT 22ND–SEPT 28TH, 2022 State Licensed Dispensaries & Doctor Certifications | CANNABIS | Katya Schwenk Cannabis workers — including Marieleigh Santoyo (second from left), Lilian Bernal (center), Brianna Martinez (right) — and other cannabis workers protest outside Zen Leaf on September 8. Budtender Backlash Employees at a Chandler dispensary protest what they say are firings that target union supporters. BY KATYA SCHWENK M arieleigh Santoyo was fired from the Zen Leaf dispen- sary in Chandler on September 5 — Labor Day. For months, Santoyo, a team lead at the dispensary, was outspoken about a new union drive and a critic of the dispensary’s poor wages and other policies. She was fired last week after a supervisor claimed she violated company policy. But Santoyo said it was retaliation. Santoyo was among a dozen cannabis workers and supporters who gathered outside Zen Leaf on West Chandler Boulevard on September 8, hoisting signs and bullhorns to protest what they said is a series of retaliatory terminations at the dispensary. This year, dispensaries across the Phoenix area have seen a rush of union activity. No dispensary workers in the state were unionized until this summer, when a Curaleaf location in midtown voted to unionize — two years after a Curaleaf worker in Gilbert, Anissa Keane, was fired for attempting to start a union at her dispensary. In July, weeks after the midtown Curaleaf voted, the Chandler Zen Leaf held its own union election. Staff voted 20-2 to unionize. The early successes of unions so far in the cannabis industry in Arizona are largely due to a campaign by United Food and Commercial Workers, a national labor union, and its launch of a national cannabis organizing campaign. Members of the local offshoot, Arizona Cannabis Workers Rising, attended Thursday’s rally. Although the Chandler Zen Leaf now officially has a union, it faces National Labor Relations Board investigations into its conduct before and after the union drive. There are four open NLRB cases involving the dispensary concerning alle- gations of retaliation, threats, and disci- pline of employees for union activity. Over the course of the union drive, 10 employees at the Chandler location were terminated by Zen Leaf, according to workers at the store. The company said the terminations were not related to labor organizing. “Zen Leaf does not terminate employees for union activity. We respect our team members’ right to choose whether to be represented by a union,” Steve Mazeika, director of communica- tions for Zen Leaf’s parent company, Chicago-based Verano Holdings, said in a statement to Phoenix New Times. He added that the company was focused on “helping unlock the benefits of safe, legal access to regulated cannabis for medical patients, society, and team members.” Verano entered the Arizona cannabis market in March 2021. ‘It Takes a Mental Toll on You’ Santoyo said that on September 5, she and several other coworkers were >> p 42 39