Union Vote: Smiling Bud Manufacturing Staff Opt For UFCW Local 360

Manufacturing workers at Smiling Bud, a cannabis manufacturer based in Ridgefield, New Jersey, have voted to unionize with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 360, according to the union’s September 17, 2026 announcement.

Local 360 characterized the vote as the latest victory in its Cannabis Workers Rising campaign, one that extends the union’s growing presence across New Jersey’s legal cannabis industry and its supply chain. The announcement did not disclose the vote margin or the number of workers in the bargaining unit.

For Smiling Bud employee Jessyca Padilla, the decision to organize was about having a meaningful voice in the workplace and standing with coworkers, the announcement said.

“I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t scary,” Padilla said. “Taking a stand and speaking up for yourself and your coworkers can feel incredibly vulnerable, especially when you don’t know how the people above you will respond. But I also know how much my team cares about this work and about each other. For me, this is about building a workplace where people feel respected, heard, supported and valued. Unionizing is our way of saying that we believe our voices matter.”

Hugh Giordano, Local 360’s director of organizing, said Padilla’s account says a lot about why workers organize: it takes courage to stand up and say you want a voice in your future, and commitment to join your coworkers in making it happen. Manufacturing workers are essential to developing and creating the products that ultimately reach consumers, Giordano said, and like all workers they deserve respect, stability and the opportunity to build real careers as the industry grows.

“New Jersey cannabis isn’t an experiment anymore. It’s an industry, and an increasingly sophisticated one,” Local 360 President Sam Ferraino Jr. said. “That means any conversation about its future must include workers throughout the supply chain.” From cultivation and manufacturing to sales and retail, Ferraino said, workers move the industry forward every day and deserve a say in what it becomes. He said the local was proud to welcome the workers at Smiling Bud.

Smiling Bud’s Manufacturing Operation

Smiling Bud operates a 52,000-square-foot cannabis facility in Ridgefield providing extraction, manufacturing, packaging and fulfillment services, according to the announcement. Its manufacturing capabilities include edibles and concentrates, along with white-label, private-label and co-manufacturing services for cannabis brands.

On the company’s website, Smiling Bud lists its address as 313 Broad Ave in Ridgefield and describes the facility as fully licensed and operational. The site details additional services, including shared manufacturing, under which a partner brand uses Smiling Bud’s equipment to manufacture that brand’s products, and two extraction methods: CO2 extraction, which the company says delivers distillate, and solventless extraction, which it says produces live rosin. The company says its product expertise covers infused and non-infused pre-rolls; distillate, live rosin and flavored cartridges; gummies, chocolates and other edibles; and concentrates. It names Blue Collar Cannabis, Smokiez and Wyld among its current partners.

Cannabis Workers Rising Campaign

Through the Cannabis Workers Rising campaign, Local 360 represents workers in retail dispensaries, cultivation and manufacturing, as well as other areas of the industry, according to the announcement. The union says the campaign team has been central to the development and stabilization of New Jersey’s legal cannabis industry, helping workers organize and negotiate for better wages, workplace protections, benefits and career opportunities. The announcement describes manufacturers as an important component of the state’s regulated marketplace, transforming cannabis into finished products including concentrates and edibles and providing production, packaging and related services so brands and retailers can bring those products to market.

Nationally, the UFCW describes itself as a leader in cannabis labor organizing and the official cannabis union recognized by the AFL-CIO. It says it represents tens of thousands of workers in dispensaries, grow operations, labs, delivery services, and manufacturing and processing facilities across the United States, working with employees and business owners toward a regulated cannabis industry that delivers family-sustaining jobs with a focus on social equity.

The Smiling Bud vote follows earlier manufacturing organizing by Local 360 under the same campaign. In a May 22, 2026 post, the UFCW International Union said 12 workers at Sun Extractions in Hamilton, New Jersey, had voted to join Local 360 by card check and were negotiating a contract to secure better wages and benefits. According to that post, organizers developed trusting relationships with Sun Extractions employees by sponsoring booths at cannabis events and meeting workers in person. The post described the Cannabis Workers Rising campaign as an effort to improve labor standards and boost worker, consumer and community safety across the state’s legal marijuana industry. Giordano said at the time that fair treatment, strong standards and shared commitments are how cannabis jobs become long-term careers, and Ferraino said other states look to New Jersey as a model for the industry.