our MissionOur mission is to defend the interests and well-being of staff in order to create a stronger, more equitable, and even more effective Defenders of Wildlife. Ensuring that staff are well taken care of is critical to retaining passionate, talented people that have dedicated their careers to protecting our wildlife and wild lands.
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our visionThrough unionizing, we envision a workplace in which staff can openly, honestly, and genuinely collaborate with management to address their concerns. Click the button below to explore our current prioritize and stances.
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how did we get here?
Our employer, Defenders of Wildlife, is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to wildlife conservation in the field, in the courts, and on the hill. We are an interdisciplinary, passionate group of individuals that love our work and what Defenders of Wildlife stands for, but the time has come to stand up for each other.
Following a rash of arbitrary and sudden firings in the summer of 2021, a group of dedicated staff began meeting to consider how to fundamentally fix the organization we love. It was quickly determined that forming a union was the only way to guarantee lasting, contractually binding protections for workers to guarantee us a say in the organization's decisions. Over the next several months, we began conducting one-on-one outreach to our colleagues, gathering their concerns and hearing their thoughts on unionizing. During that time, the diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) consultant that management had hired to help address long-lasting concerns and chart a path forward decided to terminate their contract with Defenders'. Spurred on by the firings and lack of meaningful progress on DEIJ, staff flocked to the union effort. Once we reached a critical mass, we interviewed several unions and held a democratic vote in which we chose to affiliate with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).
On 8 July 2021, we sent a letter to Defenders' CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark requesting that she voluntarily recognize our union, so that we could immediately begin working together to strengthen our workforce. As we wrote in that letter:
"A union provides the mechanisms through which staff can openly, honestly, and genuinely collaborate with management to address these topics. We recognize and appreciate the steps that leadership has taken to address some of the challenges Defenders faces. Unionization provides a complementary forum for staff involvement and will prove more comprehensive than any single initiative. Through this process, we will be better equipped to protect and conserve wildlife."
The CEOs of almost every other unionized environmental organization voluntarily recognized their unions, so we expected Defenders' to do the same. Unfortunately, Defenders' CEO rejected our request for voluntary recognition just three hours later, while simultaneously telling the press that she was "taking this request seriously."
Refusing to be deterred, we quickly filed for an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On 14 September 2021 the NLRB counted the votes in our election and Defenders United won by a landslide 70–5 vote in favor of unionizing. Despite a global pandemic, geographically dispersed staff, and objection from our leaders, we had our union!
Since then, we have elected a Bargaining Committee and two Shop Stewards, begun negotiating over interim issues such as return to offices and healthcare premium increases, and advocated for staff facing unfair treatment. Unfortunately, management has continued to strongly resist our efforts to ensure workers have a voice at the decision-making table. Our CEO and President, Senior Vice President of Operations, and management's high-paid lawyers have opposed our proposals, often refusing to do so much as offer a counter proposal, imposed unilateral changes to our working conditions without reaching an agreement with the union, and even fired a vocal union supporter for spurious reasons. As a result, we have been forced to file six unfair labor practices charges with the NLRB. The NLRB saw merit in our charges and issued a formal complaint against Defenders of Wildlife, and four charges were settled by management the Sunday before our trail date.
Despite the many challenges with senior management has thrown in our way, we remain united and undeterred. We continue to organize and bargain for a fair workplace because we know this is the only way to build a Defenders that will truly work for us all.
Explore our site to learn more about unions, our priorities, and how you can support us!
Following a rash of arbitrary and sudden firings in the summer of 2021, a group of dedicated staff began meeting to consider how to fundamentally fix the organization we love. It was quickly determined that forming a union was the only way to guarantee lasting, contractually binding protections for workers to guarantee us a say in the organization's decisions. Over the next several months, we began conducting one-on-one outreach to our colleagues, gathering their concerns and hearing their thoughts on unionizing. During that time, the diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) consultant that management had hired to help address long-lasting concerns and chart a path forward decided to terminate their contract with Defenders'. Spurred on by the firings and lack of meaningful progress on DEIJ, staff flocked to the union effort. Once we reached a critical mass, we interviewed several unions and held a democratic vote in which we chose to affiliate with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).
On 8 July 2021, we sent a letter to Defenders' CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark requesting that she voluntarily recognize our union, so that we could immediately begin working together to strengthen our workforce. As we wrote in that letter:
"A union provides the mechanisms through which staff can openly, honestly, and genuinely collaborate with management to address these topics. We recognize and appreciate the steps that leadership has taken to address some of the challenges Defenders faces. Unionization provides a complementary forum for staff involvement and will prove more comprehensive than any single initiative. Through this process, we will be better equipped to protect and conserve wildlife."
The CEOs of almost every other unionized environmental organization voluntarily recognized their unions, so we expected Defenders' to do the same. Unfortunately, Defenders' CEO rejected our request for voluntary recognition just three hours later, while simultaneously telling the press that she was "taking this request seriously."
Refusing to be deterred, we quickly filed for an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On 14 September 2021 the NLRB counted the votes in our election and Defenders United won by a landslide 70–5 vote in favor of unionizing. Despite a global pandemic, geographically dispersed staff, and objection from our leaders, we had our union!
Since then, we have elected a Bargaining Committee and two Shop Stewards, begun negotiating over interim issues such as return to offices and healthcare premium increases, and advocated for staff facing unfair treatment. Unfortunately, management has continued to strongly resist our efforts to ensure workers have a voice at the decision-making table. Our CEO and President, Senior Vice President of Operations, and management's high-paid lawyers have opposed our proposals, often refusing to do so much as offer a counter proposal, imposed unilateral changes to our working conditions without reaching an agreement with the union, and even fired a vocal union supporter for spurious reasons. As a result, we have been forced to file six unfair labor practices charges with the NLRB. The NLRB saw merit in our charges and issued a formal complaint against Defenders of Wildlife, and four charges were settled by management the Sunday before our trail date.
Despite the many challenges with senior management has thrown in our way, we remain united and undeterred. We continue to organize and bargain for a fair workplace because we know this is the only way to build a Defenders that will truly work for us all.
Explore our site to learn more about unions, our priorities, and how you can support us!