Labor pressure and changing state politics are creating new risks and opportunities for the cannabis industry. In entertainment, a renewed antitrust lawsuit is challenging Skydance’s consolidation and streaming plans.
Sweet Flower Workers Authorize Potential Cannabis Retail Strike
Employees at Los Angeles-area Sweet Flower dispensaries represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 voted overwhelmingly to authorize their bargaining committee to call an unfair labor practice strike. The authorization does not mean workers are currently on strike, and no walkout date has been announced.
The union alleges that Sweet Flower canceled bargaining sessions, delayed presenting a contract proposal and failed to bargain in good faith. Employees have worked under an expired contract since March 8, and the parties are scheduled to resume negotiations on November 18.
Why It Matters: Analysis: A walkout could disrupt a prominent Southern California retailer during an important holiday sales period while testing the strength of organized labor in California’s financially pressured cannabis market. The authorization also gives workers additional leverage before negotiations resume.
Source: Cannabis Business Times
Kansas Governor-Elect Backs Marijuana Legalization
Kansas Governor-elect Cindy Holscher said she supports legalizing cannabis and argued that federal marijuana rescheduling has made state-level reform more politically achievable. The Associated Press called the closely contested governor’s race for Holscher on November 12.
Holscher has presented legalization as a way to establish product safeguards and capture revenue currently flowing to neighboring states. Kansas does not have a regulated medical or adult-use marijuana market, and any legalization measure would still need to navigate a Republican-controlled Legislature.
Why It Matters: Analysis: Holscher’s victory gives legalization an executive-level advocate in one of the country’s remaining prohibition states. Even if comprehensive adult-use legislation cannot immediately pass, the change in administration could improve the prospects for medical cannabis, decriminalization or a negotiated regulatory framework.
Source: Marijuana Moment
Consumers Renew Antitrust Challenge to Skydance Streaming Consolidation
Consumers refiled an antitrust lawsuit against Skydance in California federal court, seeking to unwind the company’s Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery combination and its earlier Paramount-Skydance transaction, or force major asset divestitures. An earlier version of the case was dismissed in August with permission to amend and refile.
The complaint specifically challenges plans to bundle Paramount+ and HBO Max in 2027 and eventually place the services on a shared platform. The plaintiffs allege that common ownership could reduce consumer choice, increase subscription costs and diminish competition for programming; Skydance had not publicly responded to the refiling at the time of publication.
Why It Matters: Analysis: The lawsuit creates a new legal complication for Skydance as it pursues platform integration, cost reductions and debt repayment. Although the plaintiffs face a significant burden in seeking to unwind completed transactions, the litigation could generate scrutiny of pricing, content investment and streaming consolidation.
Source: TheWrap
What We’re Watching
Over the next 24 to 72 hours, watch for a strike notice or response from Sweet Flower, early signals about the cannabis proposals Kansas’ incoming administration will prioritize, and Skydance’s response to the renewed antitrust complaint. Federal efforts to revise the broader hemp restrictions scheduled for December 11 also remain a central industry risk.
