Kallen Muste, 24, has a great co-worker who makes her job easier, a co-worker with a big personality who is easy to work with and whose bright orange scales brighten up the workplace.
Muste, an educator and animal ambassador at the Utica Zoo, talks about Mango, an Everglades ratsnake who helps him teach people about animals and conservation. Part of Muste’s job is also to ensure that Mango and the zoo’s more than 70 other animal ambassadors receive the proper care – nutrition, habitat, exercise, enrichment – to keep them as healthy and happy as possible, he said. -he declares.
But Muste and some other zoo workers don’t think the zoo administration pays the same attention to the treatment of staff.
The 28 staff members – zookeepers, educators, veterinary technicians, building and gardeners, administrative specialists and gift shop employees – will vote by secret ballot on Thursday to join the Civil Service Employees Association, or CSEA, which already represents workers from the Rosamund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse and the Buffalo Zoo.
“I’ve seen way too many team members leave because of general stress, exhaustion,” zookeeper Caleb LaRocca told members of the Utica Common Council at a meeting earlier this year. this month. “And they just get fed up and they have too much and they have to leave for their health or for other reasons.”
And by improving working conditions for zoo staff, including listening more to their ideas and observations, the zoo will become a better place for everyone, including the animals, he argued.
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“I think this is a fantastic opportunity,” Muste added during the meeting, “for the zoo to become all it can be.”
Here’s what you need to know about the union vote.
Why do workers say they want to unionize?
- Better wages and benefits.
- To amplify their voices on zoo ideas and issues.
- Low benefits and frustrations have led to unusually high turnover, and employees take institutional knowledge with them, impacting the animals’ sense of continuity and familiarity.
What does Utica Zoo management say about the union?
“The Zoo and CSEA have reached an agreement to hold a secret ballot election to be conducted by the National Labor Relations Board later this month,” Kyla Jacobs, assistant director of administrative operations, said in an email. . “We believe that the right of our employees to vote in a secret ballot election should be protected, so that all employees have the opportunity to participate in the decision whether or not to join the union.
The administration did not accept a request for an interview. Regarding the zoo’s employee turnover rate, Jacobs said in an email that there were a variety of reasons for this, including “retirement, relocation, family decisions, pursuit of new opportunities and, unfortunately, in some cases, job abandonment (leaving without notice by simply not showing up).
“As a small zoo, we also often have employees join us for entry-level positions and industry experience,” Jacobs said. “As positions become available, we actively work with the Department of Labor and our network of zoos and aquariums, through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, to recruit and fill positions.
What happens next
If a simple majority of zoo workers vote for the union on Thursday, the results will be certified by the National Labor Relations Board and then collective bargaining can begin.
