Pubdate: Mon, 07 Dec 2015
Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775
Author: Trish Kelly

LIQUOR WORKERS WILL ROLL IN MARIJUANA MONEY

Last week, the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU)
and the B.C. Private Liquor Store Association (BCPLSA) announced a
partnership to advocate for the sale of marijuana for recreational use
at liquor stores across B.C. by Christmas next year.

The union and private retailers' association noted the existing liquor
distribution and retail system in B.C. already offers a disciplined
retail environment that is age-restricted, with all the right
infrastructure to sell this additional option for hedonists.

Between the two organizations, it's a pretty compelling
endorsement.

Marijuana activists have to be miffed. After decades of fighting to
dispel the stigma and challenge the criminality of pot use, at the
expense of their credibility and even freedom, finally, here comes
legalization and legitimacy. And now, their just reward, legit taxable
income, could be co-opted by these squares in liquor
distribution.

As sad as the trailblazers will be if this push is successful, it does
make sense that liquor stores handle pot sales as well.

B.C. seems to be okay with cigarettes being sold in neighbourhood
convenience stores, as long as they are masked behind unsubtle
shelving units, but pot could do better for itself in a retail liquor
store environment. Suddenly all the best marketing tools are on the
table: cool package design, brand names with puns, buy-one-get-one
deals. And just think of the cross-merchandizing opportunities with
snacks.

The BCGEU, which already represents 3,800 workers at almost 200
government stores, must be quite pleased with itself for forging a
relationship with BCPLSA, a business association that represents
almost 700 retail stores, with thousands of employees. These workers
aren't unionized. Not yet anyway. But as BCGEU and BCPLSA cosy up,
they have to be crunching the numbers. A juicy new revenue source with
good margins could pay for unionized wages.

And why not? If we're going to legalize it, why not unionize it?
Plenty of B.C.ers work in the black market pot industry, where they're
vulnerable to exploitation from criminal elements or at the mercy of
crappy bosses who know their employees have no legal recourse. As we
daylight the pot economy, let's do more than just raise tax revenue.
Let's protect the workers along the pot supply chain, right through to
those who vend it.

To the trailblazers who got us to this point, where a Canadian Prime
Minister can follow through on a promise to make it legal, I say mad
props. You fought the good fight, and you were right. Your rewards
will not be riches, but you gave birth to a new generation of living
wage jobs for Vancouver, that's gotta be its own kind of high.
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MAP posted-by: Matt