A Southeast Portland dispensary announced it was closing and abruptly laid off staff June 6, nearly five months after workers unionized.

Buzz Box said it would remain open with reduced hours through June 30, but its budtenders were laid off effective June 6.

Workers were told of the closure in a virtual meeting that lasted just a few minutes.

Ione Banning, president of the newly formed independent union United Cannabis Workers, said they were in the virtual lobby, waiting to be let into the meeting, when a coworker texted them to say the store was closing and they were all being laid off. Banning thought it was a joke at first.

“When we initially unionized, we didn’t expect the backlash that we got,” Banning said. Workers thought that the employers in the cannabis industry would be chiller than other employers.

Five workers formed United Cannabis Workers in January and the employer voluntarily recognized the union. But Buzz Box began cutting workers’ hours a few months later, while hiring new workers, Banning said.

Banning and most of the other budtenders had worked at Buzz Box for around a year before the closure. 

In January, budtender Ethan Conrad said the store had been struggling with careless management and inconsistent inventory. 

“We all enjoyed working at the shop and the people we worked with and the environment, and we wanted to make it a better place to work. And to be met with such hostility when that was our goal was shocking,” Banning said.

Buzz Box is affiliated with a marijuana processor called Higher Cultures. In a press release announcing the closure, Buzz Box said employees “are being supported through the transition.” Banning said that’s not true; workers were not given severance or an opportunity to ask questions in the meeting about the closure.