A labor dispute at the Chicago Botanic Garden continues to build. <\/p>\n
Workers seeking better working conditions and the right to unionize are digging in, said Matt Muchowski, organizing director of Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United, the labor group supporting botanic garden workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe workers are fired up to keep organizing,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cThey are continuing to talk to their coworkers about signing union cards and organizing through the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Labor organizing efforts (more information: CBGworkersunited.org<\/strong><\/a>) went public this summer with a union-card campaign amid allegations of retaliatory terminations, said Muchowski \u2014 allegations that Chicago Botanic Garden dispute. Garden workers then in October took their fight to the county, which via the Forest Preserve District of Cook County owns the botanic garden\u2019s land and provides the organization with millions of dollars in annual funding.<\/p>\n The forest preserve\u2019s board of commissioners issued support for the workers\u2019 \u201ccourageous\u201d efforts to speak up during a Nov. 18 press conference<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAs workers at the Chicago Botanic Garden move forward with unionization efforts, I stand firmly in support of their right to do so,\u201d said Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, during the event.<\/p>\n Kai Shin, a former facilities assistant at Chicago Botanic Garden\u2019s Windy City Harvest program, has helped lead workers\u2019 efforts to organize and spoke at the press conference. Shin also spoke at a forest preserve board meeting in October, when the board passed a resolution supporting the garden\u2019s workers, and said he was fired one week later. <\/p>\n He told The Record his termination was in retaliation for speaking out against his former colleagues\u2019 \u201cunjust terminations.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThis kind of retaliation makes it clear what the garden\u2019s response is to the legislation of our elected officials,\u201d Shin said Nov. 18, referencing the resolution approved in October.<\/p>\n The Cook County resolution urges botanic garden leadership \u201cto accept card check neutrality\u201c \u2014 a process where the employer remains neutral while workers openly consider organizing \u2014 to demonstrate it is \u201can employer committed to recognizing the autonomy of workers to exercise their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Forest Preserve District Commissioner Alma Anaya, a member of the board\u2019s Chicago Botanic Garden Committee, sponsored the resolution and issued a statement supporting the workers on Nov. 18. <\/p>\n \u201cHistorically in Chicago and in Cook County, we have been an area that respects our workers,\u201d she said. \u201cWe fight for our workers and any type of wins that we have had for worker rights have really started here. I want to thank the workers for being so brave, for speaking up, for talking to their colleagues, for standing firm on their values and understanding that they can work with us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Botanic garden responds <\/p>\n In response to the county\u2019s resolution, Chicago Botanic Garden President and Chief Executive Officer Jean Franczyk disputed the retaliation allegations stating in a letter that \u201cthe Garden would never terminate an employee for supporting or not supporting union activity\u2019 and \u201cany employment decisions we made are made based on objective, job-related factors, not an employee\u2019s perceived union view.\u201d<\/p>\n She also wrote that the garden respects employees\u2019 rights \u201cto support, or not support\u201d union representation, but the nonprofit organization disagrees with the suggestion for \u201ccard check neutrality\u201d and issued support for a secret-ballot process.<\/p>\n \u201cFederal labor law establishes a process for employees to exercise their rights by making their choice for or against representation in a secret ballot election administered and supervised by the National Labor Relations Board,\u201d Franczyk wrote. \u201cEmbracing \u2018card check neutrality\u2019 would eliminate the opportunity for employees to vote in a secret election.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Franczyk said many of the garden\u2019s employees do not support unionization efforts and some have come to management to express opposition to those efforts. She said if garden workers voted via secret ballot to unionize, the garden would \u201chonor that choice and bargain in good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to The Record\u2019s request for more information, Chicago Botanic Garden Public Relations Manager Julie McCaffrey said that \u201clabor neutrality\u201d doesn\u2019t support the rights of all employees.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Neutrality\u2019 in this context means the employer commits to staying silent \u2014 i.e., to not communicate with our staff or even answer their questions concerning a union\u2019s organizing campaign,\u201d she wrote in an email. \u201cWe believe that would amount to an abdication of our staff-developed value of open, direct communication between employees and leadership.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n McCaffrey also touted the botanic garden\u2019s workplace culture as a reason that garden employees have not unionized in the organization\u2019s 53-year history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve worked hard to build a culture at the Garden where every voice can be heard, where our employees are treated with respect and where leadership and staff work together with trust and transparency to resolve concerns as they arise,\u201d said McCaffrey, who added that the garden uses only union labor for outsourced construction. <\/p>\n At the press conference in November, Preckwinkle celebrated the more than 400 workers at Chicago Botanic Garden who \u201cmake the visitor experience extraordinary\u201d and deserve respect and the right to organize. The workers include horticulturists, landscape crews, educators and public program staff, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Preckwinkle said the resolution also applies to workers at Cook County museums, nonprofits and cultural organizations \u201cwho are courageously raising their voices and asking for a seat at the table. Let\u2019s keep fighting for fairness, equity and the right to organize.\u201d<\/p>\n Workers\u2019 complaints<\/p>\n Shin said problems at the garden have been ongoing for at least a year, and ironically, in the weeks leading up to his criticism, the botanic garden had been pushing yearly whistleblower training. <\/p>\n Shin spoke up after what he called an example of retaliation. He alleges that a colleague was fired for commenting to a friend about low pay with Windy City Harvest, the botanic garden\u2019s urban gardening program with locations on the South and West sides of the city.<\/p>\n Shin claims at least four other people at Windy City Harvest also lost their jobs over the summer and said that Windy City Harvest accomplishes the opposite of its goal to help people progress in the workforce.<\/p>\n \u201cI started in spring. By June and July, two colleagues had been terminated. Mid-August had \u2026 back-to-back-to-back terminations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In response to the terminations, Shin said that, backed by some colleagues, he sent an \u201cethics email\u201d to botanic garden management. He reportedly received a message in return from his supervisor that called the email hostile. Shin\u2019s duties as facilities assistant allegedly were then downgraded to mopping and sweeping.\u00a0<\/p>\n After speaking at the October county commissioners\u2019 meeting, Shin said he was terminated with his supervisor saying he requested the \u201cwrong kind of paid time off\u201d to go speak at the meeting.<\/p>\n McCaffrey said the botanic garden will not comment on individual personnel decisions.<\/p>\n Bailey Uttich, an aquaponics coordinator at Windy City Harvest\u2019s North Lawndale location told The Record she loves her job but believes Shin was retaliated against for speaking up. <\/p>\n \u201cThe management and culture is not good for a cohesive environment,\u201d she said, adding that she wants to see the organization practice what it preaches in relation to working conditions.<\/p>\n Seasonal botanic garden employee Angellica Kucinski spoke at the press conference and criticized the garden\u2019s response to workers\u2019 concerns. She said the garden\u2019s lack of response to an emailed letter signed by several workers is \u201cdisappointing but unfortunately not surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n McCaffrey said the letter in question \u2014 which The Record reviewed and was signed by 27 workers \u2014 came from an anonymous email account and the Garden doesn\u2019t respond to anonymous email accounts.<\/p>\n Kucinski also accused the botanic garden of retaliatory practices and wants seasonal workers to be acknowledged as essential workers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe garden would not be the renowned institution that it is without the hard work we put in day in and day out,\u201d she said. These workers deserve to \u201clive and take care of ourselves and our families. \u2026 We will continue to stand together and fight for a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n Employee Lorilin Meyer said at the press conference in November that she believes organizing can make a positive difference. To see county commissioners, union leaders and employees willing to speak up is \u201ceverything,\u201d she said: \u201cI believe we can make change for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.<\/p>\n Become a member<\/a>\u00a0of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.<\/p>\n