BLUE FOLDER ITEM
Blue folder items are additional back up material to administrative reports and/or public comments received after the printing and distribution of the agenda packet for receive and file.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MAY 14, 2024
N.2 DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE PROPOSED UPDATES TO THE
CANNABIS REGULATORY ORDINANCES AND APPLICATION GUIDELINES CONTACT: ELIZABETH HAUSE, ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER • ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO LABOR PEACE AGREEMENT
REQUIREMENTS FOR CANNABIS BUSINESSES
• PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS
CA.GOV / Department of Cannabis Control / / Labor peace agreements for cannabis businesses Labor peace agreements for cannabis
businesses
State law requires many commercial cannabis licensees to enter into, and abide by, labor peace agreements. Recent changes to state law have strengthened these requirements, by expanding the number of licensees that are subject to these requirements.
This FAQ page is intended to help educate cannabis licensees and workers about state-law requirements related to labor peace agreements in the cannabis industry. This FAQ page is for informational purposes only and is not intended to implement, interpret, or make specific any laws or regulations enforced by DCC.
For additional information, see:
Business and Professions Code, section 26001 , subdivision (y) Business and Professions Code, section 26051.5 , subdivision a, paragraph (5) Current labor peace agreements
Labor peace agreements on file
DCC has a full or partial labor peace agreement (LPA) on file from the licensees listed in table format in the link above. Additional information can also be requested.
Labor peace FAQs
A labor peace agreement is an agreement between a commercial cannabis licensee or license applicant and a bona fide labor organization. Under a labor peace agreement, the labor organization and its members agree:
Not to engage in picketing, work stoppages, boycotts, or any other economic interference with the licensee’s or applicant’s business.
In return, the licensee or applicant agrees:
What is a labor peace agreement?
5/14/24, 2:26 PM Labor peace agreements for cannabis businesses - Department of Cannabis Control https://cannabis.ca.gov/labor-peace-agreements-for-cannabis-businesses/ 1/5 Not to disrupt efforts by the labor organization to communicate with, and attempt to organize and represent, the licensee’s or applicant’s employees.
To provide the labor organization access, at reasonable times, to areas in which the licensee’s or applicant’s employees work, for the purpose of meeting with employees to discuss their right to representation, employment rights under state law, and terms and conditions of employment.
A labor peace agreement may not mandate a particular method of election or certification of the labor organization.
After entering into a labor peace agreement, a licensee must maintain compliance with that labor peace agreement. A licensee seeking to renew a state cannabis license must attest that it remains in compliance with any applicable labor peace agreement.
No, a labor peace agreement is not the same thing as a collective bargaining agreement. Whether or not a cannabis licensee or applicant has a collective bargaining agreement in place, the cannabis licensee or applicant must still make sure to comply with all state laws regarding labor peace agreements.
If a cannabis licensee or applicant is required to enter into a labor peace agreement (see below), all of the licensee’s or applicant’s employees must be covered by a labor peace agreement. A labor peace agreement that only covers some subset of the licensee’s or applicant’s employees is not sufficient. “Employees,” as used here, does not include supervisors.
Please note that state law imposes labor-peace-agreement requirements (if applicable) in connection with each application or license, even if the applicant or licensee holds multiple licenses and has already entered into labor peace agreements in connection with other licenses.State law requires that a labor peace agreement prohibit picketing, work stoppages, boycotts, and any other economic interference with the applicant’s or licensee’s business.
State law also requires that a labor peace agreement provide a bona fide labor organization access, at reasonable times, to areas in which the applicant’s or licensee’s employees work, for the purpose of meeting with employees to discuss their right to representation, employment rights under state law, and terms and conditions of employment. These goals cannot be met unless a labor peace agreement covers all of an applicant’s or licensee’s employees.
What must a licensee do after it has entered into a labor peace agreement? Is a labor peace agreement the same thing as a collective bargaining agreement? Who must be covered by a labor peace agreement?
5/14/24, 2:26 PM Labor peace agreements for cannabis businesses - Department of Cannabis Control https://cannabis.ca.gov/labor-peace-agreements-for-cannabis-businesses/ 2/5 Changes to state law mean that smaller cannabis businesses will be subject to the state’s labor-peaceagreement requirements, beginning July 1, 2024.
Currently, all applicants or licensees with 20 or more employees are required to enter into labor peace agreements.
Beginning July 1, 2024, this requirement applies to all applicants or licensees with 10 or more employees. “Employees,” as used here, does not include supervisors.
The answer depends on whether the license applicant has 10 or more employees. Remember: applicants and licensees with 10 or more employees will become subject to the state’s labor-peace-agreement requirements beginning July 1, 2024.
10-19 employees: If an applicant has 10 or more employees, but fewer than 20 employees, it must enter into a labor peace agreement by the earlier of the following two dates:
Within 60 days of employing its 20th employee; or
July 1, 2024
Within 60 days of employing its 20th employee; or
July 1, 2024
Remember: applicants with 10 or more employees become subject to the state’s labor-peace-agreement requirements beginning July 1, 2024, even if they do not hire any additional employees. 0-9 employees: If an applicant has 9 or fewer employees, it must enter into a labor peace agreement after employing its 10th employee by the later of the following two dates:
Within 60 days of employing its 10th employee; or
July 1, 2024
Who is required to enter into labor peace agreements?
I am applying for a state cannabis license, but my business is not yet big enough to be subject to the state’s labor-peace-agreement requirements. What happens if I hire more employees in the future? 5/14/24, 2:26 PM Labor peace agreements for cannabis businesses - Department of Cannabis Control https://cannabis.ca.gov/labor-peace-agreements-for-cannabis-businesses/ 3/5 Yes: Beginning July 1, 2024, a licensee with 10 or more employees must have a labor peace agreement in place in order to renew an existing license.
DCC will not be able to renew your license unless you comply with this requirement.
Compliance with the terms of a labor peace agreement is a condition of state cannabis licensure. A licensee that fails to maintain compliance with a labor peace agreement risks losing its state license.
Any current or former employee of a cannabis licensee may submit a complaint to the DCC regarding the licensee’s failure to comply with a labor peace agreement. Labor organizations may also submit complaints.
If you wish to submit a complaint, please e-mail [email protected]. Please include the phrase “LPA complaint” in the subject line and provide as much documentation as possible to support your complaint.
In addition, certain types of conduct by an employer engaged in the cultivation of cannabis in violation of labor peace agreement requirements may be considered unfair labor practices under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA), a statute that protects the organizational rights of agricultural employees and governs labor relations between agricultural employers and labor organizations. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) is the agency charged with enforcement of the ALRA.
More information about the ALRB and ALRA is available on the ALRB’s website . For information about how to file unfair labor practice charges with the ALRB, please contact one of the ALRB’s Regional Offices.
I applied for a state cannabis license before state law changed to require labor peace agreements for cannabis businesses with 10-19 employees. Do I still need to comply with this requirement? What if a licensee fails to maintain compliance with a labor peace agreement? I believe a cannabis licensee is violating a labor peace agreement. How can I report this? What if I believe a cannabis licensee has entered into a labor peace agreement with an entity that is not a “bona fide labor organization”?
5/14/24, 2:26 PM Labor peace agreements for cannabis businesses - Department of Cannabis Control https://cannabis.ca.gov/labor-peace-agreements-for-cannabis-businesses/ 4/5 The ALRB is responsible for determining whether an entity is a “bona fide labor organization” under state law.
Any current or former employee of a cannabis business, as well as any labor organization, may submit a complaint to the ALRB alleging that an organization with which the cannabis business has entered into a labor peace agreement is not a bona fide labor organization.
To submit such a complaint, please e-mail [email protected].
If the ALRB determines that an entity is not a “bona fide labor organization,” the relevant labor peace agreement is null and void under state law.
Additionally, the ALRB will notify DCC of its determination that the entity is not a “bona fide labor organization,” and DCC will promptly notify all licensees that have signed labor peace agreements with the same entity. DCC will offer each of those licensees a reasonable time period—which may not exceed 180 days —to enter into a new labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor organization.
What if the ALRB determines that an entity is not a “bona fide labor organization”? 5/14/24, 2:26 PM Labor peace agreements for cannabis businesses - Department of Cannabis Control https://cannabis.ca.gov/labor-peace-agreements-for-cannabis-businesses/ 5/5 From: Lauren Fontein
To: CityClerk
Subject: Comments on City Council Agenda Item N.2
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024 2:59:54 PM
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Hello,
I'm one of the owners of The Artist Tree. I am writing to express my opposition to the recommendation by TWA to require a site to apply for a cannabis business permit. We have seen in other cities that requiring a site creates an unnecessary burden for applicants, is very costly, and limits the available properties because many applicants tie up properties during the application process but then are not selected for a license.
We support TWA's recommendation to eliminate a Community Benefits Plan from the scoring rubric.
Best wishes,
Lauren
Lauren Fontein
Founder & Chief Compliance Officer
direct: 213.700.6858
email: [email protected]
website: www.theartisttree.com
social: @theartisttree
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From: Larry Rosolowski
To: CityClerk; James Light; Nils Nehrenheim; Todd Loewenstein; Paige Kaluderovic; Zein Obagi; Scott Behrendt Subject: Public Comment for Item N.2. at Tonight"s Council Meeting Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024 2:46:33 PM
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Public Comment for Item N.2. – cannabis retail process implementation feedback Mayor and Councilmembers,
My name is Larry Rosolowski and I am a long time community member of Redondo Beach having participated in Leadership Redondo 2010, and currently serving on the Board of AYSO Region 34 for over 15 years. I am writing to provide feedback on the staff report regarding the process and implementation of retail cannabis in our community. I want to express my support and feedback on some of the points before you tonight. Implementing cannabis is a big step for our community and I want to ensure we set up a process that will result in the best operators and outcome for our city.
As such I wanted to provide feedback on the following points of consideration:
Supportive of Requiring Property as part of the selection process: I am enthused to see TWA’s recommendation regarding requiring property as part of the selection process ensuring that our City Council evaluate not only the operator, but also their proposed site, when determining which applicant has earned the trust of our community to operate a retail cannabis business in Redondo Beach. . As I’m sure you can imagine, the biggest concern residents have about retail cannabis coming to our community, is where specifically they will be located and how those locations will or will not be compatible with the neighborhood, and how that impacts our community's most promising residents – our youth. This is beyond just zoning, but rather ensuring the applicant has done the work to engage the community in a meaningful way to ensure the proposed project is not only compatible, but also beneficial, to the immediate neighborhood in which they seek to locate. I strongly encourage City Council to amend their ordinance to match the proposed application procedures to include the site-specific location, so that we, the residents, have the opportunity to voice our concerns or support for specific locations prior to the City Council awarding a cannabis retail business permit.
Importance of Strictly Merit-Based retail licensing process: I am supportive of TWA’s recommendation to move forward with a strictly merit-based selection process, and I support the consultant's recommendation to limit the top applicants that will be interviewed by Council to a max of 5. This ensures our City leaders are only evaluating the top applicants while limiting the scope of liability. The most qualified operators apply in merit-based processes as they do not want to leave their success in a community up to chance. I believe it is important that we ensure our city has a process in place that will attract the top cannabis operators to apply and ultimately serve our community.
Keep Community Benefits in Application Selection Process: I disagree with TWA’s recommendation to remove the community benefits portion of the application as I think it disempowers our community and lets operators take the easy way out with less oversight and accountability over their efforts to engage our community. In each cannabis retail process I have seen that is utilizing a merit-based process, community benefits are always a component of the application process. The Community Benefits section provides our City leaders the opportunity to better understand the operators and their approach to engaging our community. Community engagement and providing meaningful and financially impactful benefits to our community and non-profit partners is an important aspect of successfully integrating cannabis into our community and ensuring that these operators are doing the work to earn the trust of our residents.
Though I understand that folding a percentage into taxes could be a benefit to the City, it will dis-incentivize operators from building relationships in our community and doing the work to earn community trust.
I want to thank our elected leaders for their diligent approach to cannabis licensing. It is exciting to be at this point, and I look forward to our city moving forward with implementing a rigorous merit-based licensing process.
Thank you for your consideration of my concerns.
Sincerely,
Larry Rosolowski
From: Seth Berg
To: CityClerk
Subject: Retail cannabis comment
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024 2:59:40 PM
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Mayor and Council Members,
I want to thank each of you for your thoughtful approach to retail cannabis licensing in our community. As the former Planning Commissioner of Redondo Beach, I understand implementing retail cannabis is a big step for our city, and I appreciate the hard work this Council has done to ensure we get this right. In reviewing the staff report, there are three points that I would like to provide my feedback and support on.
First, I am encouraged to see the City moving forward with a strictly merit-based selection process and support the consultants recommendation of limiting the top applicants that will be interviewed by Council to five. By implementing a merit based selection process, our City will ensure the most qualified cannabis operators will apply to operate in our City.
Second, I am supportive of the consultant TWA's recommendation to require property as part of the selection process. I believe property considerations are the most important parts to be evaluated by this Council and the community, prior to the selection of the applicant. It is important that this Council and the community at large, especially potential neighbors to a proposed site, have the opportunity to weigh in on the project.
Third, I wanted to share my perspective on the importance of the Community Benefits being apart of the application process. In the majority of city's that have implemented merit-based selection processes, community benefits is a component of that process.
By eliminating this section of the application the City could be doing a disservice to our local non-profits and the community at large, as this section ensures operators will do the work to meaningfully engage, financially support, and build relationships with our non-profit community.
Thank you for your time and consideration on this important topic.
Sincerely,
Seth Berg
___________________________
Seth Berg