Unionized Bird Workers with Audubon Society Prepare for Potential Strike

Dressed in red T-shirts and waving signs reading “Birds of a feather stick together,” “Owl in for a fair contract” and “Withholding benefits is looney,” about 20 supporters and unionized workers for the National Audubon Society in the Bay Area flocked to a picket line in Oakland.

In front of the Oakland Audubon office across from Snow Park near Lake Merritt — the first designated wildlife refuge in North America — they chanted slogans: “What’s disgusting? Union-busting!”

The practice picket over the weekend was preparation for a nationwide day of action this Saturday that will include pickets across the country and a coordinated Zoom call. It came days after the roughly 260 workers represented by the Bird Union-CWA Local 1180, who have been at the bargaining table for their first contract for over two years, voted to authorize a strike.

“We’re very serious about getting the contract settled,” said Emily Ohman, who works for a bird sanctuary in Tiburon.

The union alleges the Audubon Society violated federal labor laws by denying union members benefits that were given to non-union staff — including only two weeks of parental leave for union members versus enhanced leave for non-union staff — and refusing to bargain over minimum salaries.

“It’s just not sustainable anymore to tolerate the things that we have been tolerating,” Ohman said. The 24-year-old added she had to stop seeing specialists for her chronic pain because of a change in the health care system after she joined the union.

William Gould, former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, said there had been a “renewed surge of union organizing,” focusing on nonprofits, museums and cultural institutions.

But he also said it’s a little too early to know what will come of this effort. It has not translated to a greater union presence in the workforce, “this is still early days,” Gould said.

The share of U.S. workers who belong to a union has fallen since 1983, when about 20% of American workers were union members, according to the Pew Research Center.

“In nonprofits and environmental nonprofits, the stakes of our work couldn’t be higher,” said Ohman, who got into birding during the pandemic and loves peregrine falcons.

Biologists and scientists are on the front lines of bird conservation, habitat restorations and biological surveys, Ohman said — adding that underscores the importance of a fair contract.

Ohman works two freelance roles in addition to her full-time job with Audubon, “Just to get by,” she said, noting the most food-insecure times have been while working there.

“Ultimately, what we stand for is just a fairer, better future,” she said.

The Audubon Society said it is committed to ensuring its workplace is one where all employees are respected, valued and empowered.

“We remain committed to our negotiation process and will continue to work constructively with the Union to achieve a mutually agreeable contract so we can further our work to halt and ultimately reverse the decline of birds across the Americas,” the nonprofit wrote in a statement to KQED.

Ian Souza-Cole, an Audubon program manager in Sacramento, said management withheld cost-of-living increases and merit-based raises for union employees, him included.

“It’s important for any organization to show that they value their workers and treat them fairly,” Souza-Cole said. “Fundamental to having a good workplace is for the workers to feel valued.”

After alleging unfair labor practices by the Audubon Society, last week’s vote authorizes union leadership to call a strike if Audubon “continues to violate the workers’ rights under federal labor laws,” the union said in a press release.

“I don’t think anybody really wants to go on strike,” Souza-Cole said. “But we’re willing to do it to show that we mean business.”