“Small businesses, entrepreneurs, mom-and-pop shops, and hemp consumers all over the state are being treated like criminals for selling mild cannabis products. “Now, a handful of local district attorneys have decided to take matters into their own hands, bringing aggressive enforcement actions based on a misinterpretation of Pennsylvania law. However, the pace is very slow, and the division and hostility within the current PA General Assembly have made it virtually impossible to get anything done legislatively. “Representative Dan Frankel (chair of the House Health Committee) is supportive and had intended to introduce a consumer-protection bill (similar to those passed in WV, KY, TN, and FL). Although we were applauded for our contributions to the local economy, there was no willingness to openly support our local business or to advance any safety regulations for our local consumers. “Unfortunately, Pennsylvania lawmakers did not act quick enough, despite our very vocal lobbying efforts over the past year, including meetings with lawmakers like Senator Judy Ward and Representative Jim Gregory. Also, these states appropriately recognized the urgency of implementing sensible consumer-safety standards, so that irresponsible sellers don’t hurt consumers, and so legitimate businesses like MAG and the thousands of retailers who operate in those states are protected. “In these states, the governments saw the huge opportunity for small businesses to compete in this new industry, once it was legalized by the federal 2018 Farm Bill. “West Virginia (like TN, KY, and FL) recently passed consumer safety regulations for hemp-derived products, such as age restrictions, lab testing requirements, and product registration mandates. “The reason for the relocation of this unit is that the legal and political environment in West Virginia is far more friendly to innovative small businesses and entrepreneurs like us. Also, we expect to expand in WV not just in production and warehousing, but also professional office jobs relating to our manufacturing (like IT, marketing, sales, and HR), which likely would have been in Pennsylvania. “Those jobs are immediately being replaced in West Virginia, and we will be fully operational at our new West Virginia site by end of this week. However, given that our production of MAG-owned brands - primarily hemp-derived cannabinoids - accounts for about half of our business, we unfortunately had to lay off about 25 people in Pennsylvania last week. “We will continue to operate the Tyrone facility to distribute other manufacturers’ brands of vape, tobacco and similar products to our retailers throughout PA. This includes all of MAG’s hemp-derived cannabinoid products and MAG-owned/produced brands. Definitely not even worth it to work - more.The transferred operations include all those related to the firm’s hemp-derived cannabinoid products and to its MAG-owned and produced brands - representing about half the company’s business - and has led to 25 layoffs in Tyrone.Ī statement from Martin states: “MAG Industries has moved its entire Manufacturing and R&D unit to West Virginia. I had a promotion by this time and was making less than before I got promoted once they started taxing the tips. But when they started taxing those tips all our paychecks went down by hundreds of dollars. On a weekend you might see $40-$50 at most in one day. Tips weren’t even good to begin with, you get $25 a day at most typically. When I first started they were not taxing tips on your paycheck (most places I’ve earned tips, it was up to me to file that on my taxes at the end of the year anyways) but recently the company decided to start taxing them. There’s no shortage of worker manipulation at Zenleaf. Whether passive aggression, outright favoritism or gaslighting. The managers and corporate routinely disrespect and humiliate the employees. Being on the inventory side of the store, I saw first hand MANY mistakes the managers made that I would surely have been written up for if it had been me. to the point that I wouldn’t be able to finish my work which I’d get in trouble for. Routinely, I would be given multiple tasks at one time or get started on a task to be asked to go complete another in the middle of it, to be asked again in the middle of that task to complete another etc etc. As an Inventory AIC, I was never even given a description of my job responsibilities. The managers hold their supervisors to impossible standards and they’re all about accountability until it’s one of them that makes a mistake. This company perpetuates a pattern of disrespect and dehumanization towards their employees.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |