The medical marijuana business is going strong in Oakland.

In July, the City Council approved construction of four permitted production facilities. And with the constant flow of clients to local dispensaries, workers now are unionizing.

This month, about 40 employees of Marjyn Investments LLC – a company that contracts with medical marijuana patients to grow their plants – joined Teamsters Local 70 in Oakland, becoming the nation's first group of unionized marijuana growers.

Earlier this year, about 100 dispensary employees joined UFCW Local 5, a move that ensures their jobs include healthcare, vacation and sick leave, pensions and daycare for single parents.

According to Dan Rush, special operations director for UFCW Local 5, membership among medical marijuana workers continues to grow, with the current Local 5 count at 150.

“I anticipate the industry is going to be union, wall-to-wall,” Rush said.

If Proposition 19 passes in November, the legal cannabis industry is anticipated to take off. Estimates for statewide job creation are between 60,000 and 100,000.

Rush said he thinks that about 3,000 of those jobs will be in Oakland, providing employment in retail sales, industrial greenhouse production, industrial food processing, transportation and security, among others.

Derek Peterson said he hopes to create jobs in Oakland whether or not Prop. 19 passes. His company, Gropech, is assembling an application for one of the four highly coveted cultivation permits the City Council approved this summer. If given the green light to create its facility, Gropech would employ about 120 full-time workers and produce meticulously cultivated marijuana.

“Oakland is going to be the mecca of our cannabis industry,” Rush said.

According to many, Rush is right on the money, which would make it really good for the unions.

See Oakland Local's coverage of the marijuana business here.