Measure 119 would make it easier for workers in the cannabis industry to join unions. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Oregon voters appear to be passing Measure 119, which would make it easier for workers in the cannabis industry to organize.
In early results, nearly 58% of voters supported Measure 119 compared with 42% who voted against.
Measure 119, one of two citizen initiatives on the ballot, aims to pave the way for workers in the cannabis industry to join unions by requiring employers to pledge not to interfere with union activity when renewing their licenses or applying for a new one.
The measure stems from a failed bill in the Legislature that sparked a recall campaign against a longtime Democratic state representative from Eugene, Paul Holvey. As chair of the business and labor committee, he helped kill a 2023 bill backed by Oregon’s largest private sector union to ease the rights of cannabis workers to organize because legislative counsel said that essentially it was illegal.