State’s Cannabis Industry Will Face New Rules On Migratory Workforce

California’s multi-billion dollar marijuana industry has largely relied on a migratory workforce, often known as “trimmigrants,” from throughout the world who flock to the North Coast to trim bud in exchange for untaxed cash wages.
But new California laws that will take effect in 2018 will place new labor standards on the industry and begin treating it like any other agricultural industry.
Brian Shields has been in the Humboldt County cannabis industry for 14 years and is one of several people throughout the state taking part in a fledgling movement to organize marijuana farmworkers.
Since founding the Humboldt Medical Cannabis Union in 2015, his goal has been to help transition both workers and farmers from their decades old practices to the new order of regulation. The task has proven difficult.
“Let’s face it. Quite bluntly, we have kind of a mess on our hands here,” Shields said. “… These are people that are coming to our community and they’re looking for work, which is fine. But at the same point in time, it’s kind of a social issue because we don’t have the infrastructure to support that huge influx of labor coming into our area. We don’t have housing or facilities.”
This industrial shift comes as welcome news to those working to address critical issues of sexual abuse, trafficking and violence that have occurred as a result of the marijuana industry’s off-the-grid nature.
At the same time, others state the financial burden of the new rules could cause the industry to shift away from small, remote farms in favor of massive industrial-sized crops akin to California’s Central Valley, which carry their own set of issues.

Life on the farm

At the end of summer, one cannabis farmer’s remote property in the rugged mountains of Trinity County is normally dotted with tents of trimmers who will work, trim, eat and sleep on his nearly 1,000-plant farm for the next six to seven weeks. Some are returning workers while others were referred to him by friends, family or trusted workers. They come from all different backgrounds, from Alaskan fishermen trying to make some money during the off-season to Europeans visiting on travel visas.
With a $20 per hour wage for labor and another $150 to $200 per pound of trimmed bud, these workers can walk away with $1,000 per week — all untaxed.
As the farm is nearly two hours away from the nearest town, the farmer — who wished to remain anonymous — said he provides meals to his workers as well as facilities such as showers, bathrooms and anything needed to live comfortably.

Cannabis farmers must now provide worker housing, handicap-accessible parking and bathrooms, safety stations, shading, and hand-washing stations. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

This farmer knows these worker campouts won’t cut it under the state’s marijuana regulations, but until the state issues its final regulations sometime later this year, the farmer said he is going to operate as he has always done. Even though he wants to be regulated, he isn’t sure whether he can afford all it will take to be so.
“We’ve been wanting legalization for so long and then you get this bill that nobody is happy with, but it’s set in stone,” he said. “It’s funny to see how regulation actually looks. You’re regulating a billion dollar industry that’s already in place and trying to fit it into these boxes it doesn’t really fit into. It’s tough to get growers to buy in.”
Instead of makeshift campsites and wages being paid under the table, cannabis farmers must now provide worker housing, handicap-accessible parking and bathrooms, safety stations, shading, and hand-washing stations, according to a California Department of Agriculture economic analysis of the state’s medical cannabis regulations released earlier this month.
On top of that, cannabis business owners must also offer workers compensation, overtime pay starting in 2019, and must train employees to be able to handle hazardous materials, pesticides and ensure water quality compliance.
Labor alone already makes up half of what it costs to produce a pound of marijuana for the Trinity County farmer, and that’s without benefits and payroll taxes included. Both the farmer and the state report acknowledged that these new costs will likely result in a reduction in wages.
But California Growers Association Executive Director Hezekiah Allen said only a minority of cannabis growers are currently seeking to come into compliance, meaning there will still be ample opportunities for unregulated employment.
“The migrant workforce is a symptom of the unregulated and the black market,” he said. “I think that will persist for many years to come.”
Humboldt County alone received more than 2,300 cannabis business permit applications by the end of 2016, but a UC Berkeley study from 2016 estimated there were at least 8,400 grows in Humboldt County in 2012 and 2013. Many believe that number has grown substantially in the five years since.