Records show that while California’s largest legal marijuana farmer appears to have renewed dozens of national licenses, although not meeting labor-friendly licensing requirements.
The Glass House brand, which operates a massive cultivation business in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties in Southern California, renewed 25 farming licenses between December 2024 and March 2025, according to state marijuana control records.
Although it appears to be a Labor Peace Agreement (LPA), which expired in October 2024, it does so.
Glass House did not respond to requests for comment mjbizdaily.
In a statement, a DCC spokesman said the licensee must submit accurate information to the state.
Although Glass House claims to have a valid LPA, there is no mechanism in state law to verify that the information is correct.
Observer told Observer that the episode appears to be the latest example of a cannabis company escaping workforce-friendly license requirements. mjbizdaily.
It raised questions about regulatory oversight and whether the Labor Peace Agreement requirements work as expected.
“The LPA requirement I’m going to say is both flawed and flawed in theory,” said Alexis Lazzeri, an attorney for Manzuri Law, a Los Angeles-based company.
Records show that marijuana department has no union expiration agreement
California’s largest openly traded glass houses by legal cannabis ploughers are one of the most well-known companies in the cannabis industry.
Under California law, as a company with 10 or more employees, Glass House must have a valid LPA and have a “real labor organization” to renew its annual license.
In an effort to increase unions’ activities in the labor-intensive legal marijuana industry, the Labor Peace Agreement is an agreement between a company and a trade union, and employers promise not to interfere in organizing activities.
In return, the alliance agreed not to strike or organize boycott – two of the most powerful tools.
Similar labor-friendly requirements apply in other states such as New York and Oregon, although several companies filed lawsuits that such laws violated their constitutional rights.
In Oregon, a federal judge ruled against the LPA, although the decision is being appealed.
The labor agreement lasted for one year in October 2023
In the case of the Glass House, the culprit signed a labor peace agreement with the Seafarers Entertainment and Allied Trades Union (SETU) in October 2023, according to records provided to Mjbizdaily.
SEATU is a mostly active union in the maritime field, with no known organizational work in cannabis retail or cultivation.
Critics say cannabis companies are eager to sign an LPA with unions that have no intention of organizing workers. Some companies even signed LPAs with “unions” that appear to be shells or false and do not organize activities at all.
But in addition, according to the documents provided by DCC mjbizdaily Through a public record request, Glass House’s labor peace agreement with SEATU expired in October 2024.
The LPA between the Glass House and the Seaman was signed on October 16, 2023 and expires one year later, although it can be expanded through a “mutual written agreement”.
Despite LPA issues
The agency said there were no documents indicating that its updates were submitted to the DCC.
According to DCC Records, the company then renewed 10 farming permits in Santa Barbara County in March 2025 and 15 farming permits in Camarillo, California in December 2024.
DCC spokesman David Hafner said the paperwork renewed with other renewals also submitted certification pages, claiming that its labor peace agreement with West Turkish remains in effect.
Seatu did not respond to a request for comment.
But in an interview with the cannabis industry newsletter Week earlier this summer, the union spokesman appeared to have confirmed that the agreement is no longer valid.
“We have nothing to do with these companies”
“We’ve been completely out of place with the cannabis industry for a while. So we have nothing to do with these companies,” said Jordan Biscardo, a spokesman for the Weekweek union.
“These agreements were terminated … I think last year,” Weedweek said.
Biscardo did not respond immediately mjbizdaily.
DCC could not disclose whether Glass House meets its license renewal requirements.
“Every licensee is responsible for providing accurate information when renewing the license,” said Hafner, a spokesman for the agency.
“When Glass House renewed its annual license, it submitted a proof page stating that it had an LPA with the seafarer.”
Nearly automatic process, no supervisor supervision
Observers told the situation raised questions about the DCC’s ability or interest in verifying its licensee’s compliance with the law. mjbizdaily.
Lazzeri, an attorney for Manzuri Law, said California marijuana holders can renew their annual licenses through the online process.
Lazzeri said the online form requires licensees to check a box where they claim their labor agreements are still in effect. mjbizdaily Require.
“At the time, the DCC was essentially reviewing submitted documents on the DCC and contacting the licensee in case of defects,” she said.
“It’s obvious to me that this renewal initially happened without any resistance because the process of issuing the license is automated and the DCC failed to actually review and follow up on the submitted documents.”
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Glass House raided the company in July with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raiding the company in Camarillo and Carpinteria, California.
Federal authorities have arrested more than 300 employees suspected of working in the company without valid immigration documents. The Glass House is also charged with illegal employment of children, although the charges are not publicly announced.
Following the raid, Glass House announced that it had signed a new LPA with the International Team Brotherhood.
Meanwhile, in Oregon and New York, federal lawsuits challenging the LPA requirements are under trial.
Although state regulators said in May, the Oregon lawsuit is still appealing.
Other unions active in the cannabis industry, including those of United Food and Commercial workers and teams, did not respond to requests for comments about the story.
The unions have made some progress in organizing the cannabis business of the labor-friendly Biden administration.
However, unions often have to resort to courts or the National Labor and Industrial Relations Board (NLRB) after encountering illegal obstacles they claim to be against cannabis companies.
Most observers expect the pro-business Trump administration to be a labor setback.
However, in the statement made at the Republican National Convention, the team leader President Sean O’Brien went out of his way to build relationships with the White House.
Chris Roberts can be contacted at chris.roberts@mjbizdaily.com.
