Mission Statement

As a community-based cannabis dispensary, PVD Flowers’ mission is to provide reliable, safe, high quality weed while also prioritizing wealth-building via worker ownership, especially for BIPOC and formerly-incarcerated communities; offer an authentic community space where Providence’s artist and activist communities can gather; and exercise labor solidarity through union membership.

RI Cannabis Act

Our Coalition has its roots in the fight to pass the Rhode Island Cannabis Act. In December of 2022, it became law.

In addition to legalizing the possession and sales of marijuana in Rhode Island, the passing of the RI Cannabis Act was the catalyst for an influx of work towards creating cannabis cooperatives in Rhode Island. The Act reserves space in the retail market for worker cooperative and social equity dispensaries by requiring that each region is awarded at least one social equity license and one worker-owned co-op license.

The Act also included record expungement for individuals with cannabis related crimes. This is especially important, as one of the aims of the Rhode Island Cannabis Justice Coalition (RICJC) is to ensure that formerly incarcerated people and those affected by racist cannabis policing have a say in the new legal RI cannabis industry.

The licenses for cannabis dispensaries in Rhode Island are split into six zones. Each zone may award up to five licenses, of which two are reserved: one for worker cooperatives, and one for social equity applicants.

These license reservations are an innovative policy solution that will help ensure that the profits and wealth generated by the legal cannabis industry will accumulate among the communities who were most harmed by marijuana prohibition, including BIPOC and formerly-incarcerated communities. With one out of four licenses reserved for worker-owned cooperatives, a quarter of retail sales will flow back into the pockets of workers and local communities.

What is a Union Co-op?

A union co-op is a business that is owned by its workers and holds a union contract.

By combining the benefits of worker ownership, including democratic governance and financial ownership, with the strong labor protections and institutional resources provided by union membership, union co-ops are uniquely equipped to both successfully launch and sustainably support high-paying and genuinely empowering jobs over the long-term.

In the cannabis industry specifically, union co-ops offer communities that have been harmed by the War on Drugs not only the opportunity to participate in the cannabis market– which has constituted the definition of success for many State-implemented “social equity” policies– but to actually build equity, skills, and community-rooted wealth in this new and rapidly-growing industry.

Without ownership and equity provisions, including a union contract, cannabis workers will be at the mercy of large, multi-state cannabis companies that prioritize extracting a maximum return on investment for Wall Street shareholders over reinvestment in building sustainable communities.

Union Co-ops Realize the Following Advantages

Build wealth for workers and their communities by providing a path to worker ownership and democratic control of the co-op.

Receive institutional support through incubation from unions and other partners in the labor solidarity space, increasing their chances of getting off the ground and laying strong foundations.

Advocate for worker-owners as workers, allowing them to negotiate an enforceable collective bargaining agreement to protect worker rights, including the rights of workers who have not yet become worker-owners.

Create a more harmonious workplace through day-to-day dispute resolution through due process for both workers and management provided by a union contract and additional union resources and capacity.

Offer access to improved benefits, including access to health and welfare, retirement funds, and apprenticeship programs.

Foster a democratic work environment that empowers workers to govern the important decisions that will impact their own lives and ensures workers keep the wealth generated within their own communities.

Build a movement for equity and justice via solidarity and collaboration with other unionized workers and co-ops to fight for family-sustaining jobs and strong communities.

Create a professional, highly motivated and stable workforce that will command a competitive advantage over other cannabis businesses who try to get by paying workers as little as possible in the face of the current labor shortage.