Look for the union label! (Photo credit: eggrole / Mark)

Organized labor in Northern California says it’s high time that they unite with the state’s growing medical marijuana industry. On Monday, cannabis operators in San Jose and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union hashed-out the details for their new partnership.

Angel Raich, founder and CEO of ARCH collective in Oakland, described her industry’s budding relationship with UFCW as “a meeting of the minds in a lot of ways.” Dispensary operators say that aligning themselves with one of the nation’s most powerful labor unions  brings “clout” to their industry.

UFCW Local 5 President Ron Lind told KGO-TV that the Silicon Valley Cannabis Coalition for Sensibility and Dignity was launched to help cannabis shops “build their power and legitimacy” through unionization. The Daily Caller reported in June 2010 that marijuana legalization in California would especially be a boon to UCFW membership:

By getting in on the ground floor, the UFCW has a chance to dominate in an industry where employees and employers alike are –as of this moment anyway– far less skeptical of organized labor than the long-unionized supermarket industry.

With medical marijuana sales expected to generate revenue of nearly $9 billion over the next 5 years, could it be that UCFW leaders are hoping for spillover benefits to their core industry?  UFCW employees will certainly be in a unique position to deal with any and every case of the munchies that comes their way.