Monterey Bay Aquarium Workers Launch Union Campaign at Iconic Marine Nonprofit

Workers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium are launching a campaign to unionize, they announced Tuesday.

The union, Monterey Bay Aquarium Workers United (MBAWU), would cover more than 300 aquarium workers from all sectors, ranging from guest services to marketing and education.

In a public letter, MBAWU leadership cited workers’ desire for fair pay, comprehensive benefits and career transparency. They noted that they continue to stand behind the nonprofit aquarium’s mission of ocean conservation and that they hope a union will allow them to foster a healthy environment for workers.

“We really want to strengthen the organizational culture that has grown over 40 years and make it even better for the next 40 years,” said Mika Okimura, a senior education specialist at the aquarium. “I have been a teacher for some years now, and in that role, I really tried to make the world a better place and help learners navigate the world that they may be encountering. I think forming a union is going to make the world a better place for our community.”

Part of that mission, Okimura added, is making sure that workers have a say in what the community looks like.

A spokesperson for the Monterey Bay Aquarium said the organization recognizes that some of its staff members have expressed interest in union representation and that it will continue to maintain an “open and constructive” dialogue with workers throughout the process.

“I don’t feel adversarial toward our leadership. There are so many people that I admire and respect and appreciate in their roles as leaders, and I really hope they will see this as a strength,” Okimura said. “There’s been some great work by my colleagues in communicating wants and needs. This is just another way where we’re trying to make sure that everyone is taken care of.”

Some of the aquarium’s employees are struggling to keep up as Bay Area residents contend with rising housing costs and living expenses, Okimura noted, which has potentially hurt the aquarium’s retention rates.

She said, however, that increased pay is not the central motivation behind the efforts to organize but only one of several things they hope will improve through union representation.

“To be part of the union at work is to feel connected to the people who are working toward the same mission,” Okimura said.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium workers are seeking representation through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 57.

It follows an organizing campaign at the Oakland Museum of California that began last year to secure better wages and more affordable health care amid a national wave of museum unionization. Their union, also formed through AFSCME Council 57, was recognized by the museum in March.

KQED’s Gilare Zada contributed to this report.