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Washington, DC – The continuing refusal of senior leaders at Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders) to operate in good faith and bargain fairly with the organization’s staff union (Defenders United) has led to what will be the first worker’s strike in the conservation organization’s 77 year history. The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 2 authorized a 2-day unfair labor practice (ULP) strike after an overwhelming majority of Defenders United’s 76-member bargaining unit voted in favor. The strike will take place on July 9-10 unless the parties are able to reach an agreement on restoring union members’ annual wage increases and equal access to improved benefits, which Defenders’ leadership unilaterally removed last year, contradicting clear past practice on these issues. Non-union staff received both.
“Enough is enough,” said Kathleen Callaghy, a member of Defenders United’s Contract Action Team. “We work hard every day trying to save America’s wildlife, earning salaries that don’t keep pace with inflation. Withholding raises and extended maternity and bereavement leave specifically from unionized workers – the lowest paid staff in the organization – is, to us, clear discrimination and retaliation against unionized staff.” The Union filed ULP charges over the withdrawn raises and access to new benefits, which are pending investigation by the National Labor Relations Board. In recent negotiations to resolve the charges, Management’s bargaining team refused to go above their sole offer of restoring raises at 2% for all union members, despite the average raise for union members being close to 3% over the previous two years. They also insist on a previously unannounced “salary cap” that would prevent at least seven bargaining unit members from receiving any raise – ever again. The Union’s counter offer of 2.75% for all members with no cap, which was rejected, would only cost the organization roughly an additional $50,000 annually. President/CEO Clark announced her resignation from Defenders of Wildlife last November. Her successor, Andrew Bowman, will take up the President/CEO role in August 2024. “We have every intention of building a positive relationship with the new CEO,” said Sebastian Palacio, a member of Defenders United’s Bargaining Committee. “So it’s important to us that this critical issue be resolved now by the person who caused it. If Defenders is to heal and thrive, its leaders have to show current and future employees that they are willing to resolve past mistakes.” Unionized staff will picket in person from 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM on July 9 and 10 at Defenders of Wildlife’s headquarters in Washington, DC. Remote Defenders staff across the U.S. will participate in a virtual, live-streamed picket on the Union’s social media channels. The public is invited to join these activities and to make small donations (e.g. $1) in honor of “Union staff” on Defenders’ website to demonstrate support for both workers and wildlife. Stay tuned defendersunited.weebly.com Contact: [email protected] Instagram / X: @defenders_staff
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Defenders of Wildlife CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark admitted to declining her legal right to grant Defenders United members annual raises, which have been routinely granted to all staff for decades. Now, only non-Union staff will see this in their upcoming paychecks.
Clark announced this change in an all-staff email on October 19, in which she claimed that the organization’s board of directors approved a regular merit increase for 2024. However, for the first time, Defenders of Wildlife staff who are union members will not be eligible. In her email to all staff, Clark claimed that implementing merit increases for bargaining unit employees absent a contract would be a violation of the National Labor Relations Act and that any future merit increases would be implemented under a ratified collective bargaining agreement. However, during a contract bargaining session the next day, Clark admitted that the refusal to extend increases to union employees was a choice made in an attempt to hasten negotiations. “This is straight up intimidation, bullying, and retaliation towards staff for unionizing,” said Sascha Eisner of OPEIU, the Union’s chief negotiator. This is the second time in two months that Clark has- for the first time under her leadership- explicitly excluded Defenders United members from workplace benefits at the organization. In September, Clark announced an extension of Paid Parental Leave from two to six weeks for non-bargaining unit staff. Again, this benefit would not be available to Union members unless included in a finalized union contract. “We can’t think of a more explicit way to show staff just how little you value them,” said a union spokesperson. “They’re using our financial well-being as leverage, and claiming it’s good faith bargaining.” Clark’s announcements apparently reflect Management’s new negotiating tactic, to no longer bargain with the Union to implement workplace changes and benefits uniformly to all staff, as the parties have previously done on hybrid work, compensation increases, COVID-19 safety policies, and other issues. In bargaining, Management’s attorney referred to this stance as a “carrot” to try to incentivize the Union to work faster towards a contract settlement. In an emotional outpouring of shock and sadness to see this treatment of dedicated staff by a nonprofit such as Defenders of Wildlife, staff expressed their concerns to Clark directly in an all-staff meeting shortly after the announcement. Defenders has not changed its position and told the Union it can file an Unfair Labor Practice with the National Labor Relations Board if it disagrees with the employer’s actions. Defenders of Wildlife Celebrates Labor Day by Denying New Parental Leave Benefits to Union Members10/28/2023 On August 28, 2023, Defenders of Wildlife’s leadership announced to all staff that parental leave would be extended from two to six weeks. There was, however, a catch. This change will go into effect on October 1st for all non-bargaining unit employees; however, “any agreed upon changes to leave benefits of Bargaining Unit employees will become effective once a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has been finalized.”
While it is traditional that contract provisions tentatively agreed between the Union and the Employer are not implemented until the whole CBA is finalized, it is not standard practice for the Employer to offer new or improved benefits to non-bargaining unit members in the meantime – creating an arbitrary inequality that functionally “punishes” Union members. In fact, it’s not even common at Defenders. To date, Management and the Union have operationalized workplace changes for all staff on hybrid work, compensation increases, COVID-19 safety policies, and other issues by signing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs). During negotiations with Management on August 31st, Defenders United’s Bargaining Committee proposed operationalizing the parental leave benefits change the same way, but Management flatly refused. In fact, Management’s attorney literally cited this break in practice as a “carrot” to try to incentivize the Union to work faster towards a contract settlement. This decision directly contradicts CEO Jamie Clark’s own stated desire to manage One Defenders, violates the Fairness precept of the Defenders Commitment Statement (signed by Clark and several VPs in 2020) and is a blatant attempt to pressure our union into rushing to complete a contract that does not secure all the rights and benefits we deserve. The same tactic was employed by the Audubon Society’s leadership this past July. Defenders United is working as fast as we can to negotiate our contract, but CEO Jamie Clark and her team continue to lay obstacle after obstacle in our path. They have refused to budge even the smallest amount on most of their positions, flatly rejected standard union contract language, restricted the time we are allowed to work on proposals, and routinely caused internal chaos over non-CBA issues, forcing us to devote our limited time to these instead.¹ Thanks to these ongoing challenges, we have a long way to go before we reach agreement on a full CBA. In the intervening months, union staff who are expecting new family members will be deprived of this improved benefit — for absolutely no good reason. Since Thursday, numerous members have bravely responded to Management's all-staff announcement, expressing their confusion and dismay and requesting clarification on why Management has made this decision. We hope that CEO Clark and her team will stand by their stated commitments and adhere to previous practice by making this and any other new benefits available to all Defenders of Wildlife staff equitably. ¹ Examples of such disruption include but are not limited to: unlawfully terminating a union organizer, unlawfully refusing to share basic employment data with the Union for over a year, unlawfully delaying negotiations on healthcare, unlawfully direct dealing, implementing layoffs in May 2023 before bargaining with the Union, and twice attempting to force staff back into the office – once during the first Omicron surge in 2022, and once in March 2023 before we reached agreement on a hybrid work schedule. Everything you read about the toxicity of this place is true. Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders), a national non-profit organization, laid off 14 employees in a sudden announcement on Friday, May 5th, including two members of Defenders United’s bargaining committee (BC). Affected employees had no warning about the layoffs before being locked out of their email and offices and told their positions had been terminated.
“I woke up to an email that Friday stating there was a meeting scheduled with HR that I had not planned on,” said one of the affected employees. “If we were given notice that this would occur, maybe I would not have felt so much despair, especially since this put me and others under tremendous financial stress. Everything you read about the toxicity of this place is true.” Four of the 11 Union members affected by the layoffs were offered vacant positions within the organization – provided that they accept the offer by 4:00 pm that same day. Defenders also cut an additional 11 vacant Union positions from its budget, reducing the overall size of the bargaining unit by 22 positions. Defenders President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark cited an unsustainable budget deficit as the reason for the layoffs in a brief, last minute meeting with staff the same day. Several employees expressed their dismay and asked Clark why there had been no advance communication to all staff about the reduction in force (RIF). Clark responded that nothing was secret or had been withheld, but the Union has since learned that Clark informed managers in mid-March that downsizing would occur in May, and some were instructed not to inform their staff. The Union has also been unable to verify that Clark ever communicated to all staff about the organization’s budget deficit prior to the May 5th RIF announcement. Defenders Management initially refused the Union’s request to bargain over the layoffs decision, agreeing only to bargain over its effects on individuals. The Union has filed a new unfair labor practice (ULP) charge over this issue. “Recent NLRB case law supports our position that Defenders must engage in decisional bargaining over layoffs in the absence of a contract that outlines Management's Rights,” said Sascha Eisner, chief negotiator for the Union. Decisional bargaining, by law, means Management’s intentions are merely proposals. The outcome could change, and a final decision is not implemented until negotiations with the Union are completed. Defenders did not follow this procedure. Defenders Management has since claimed it will bargain over the decision, but the Union questions the sincerity of this action, particularly since Management’s attorney stated on May 8th that “Defenders will not be reversing any of the decisions made on Friday in the meantime.” The 14 laid off employees included 11 Union members and three managers. Five are over the age of 40, and three are Black. (Defenders staff identified as 71% White in 2022) Three had served at Defenders for over 17 years. One manager, who had worked at Defenders for over 32 years, received the layoff notice by voice mail while on vacation out of the country. Another long-time employee, who was deeply beloved by members of staff, was known for sending out daily inspirational emails. “The absolute lack of empathy is just astounding,” said a spokesperson for the Union. “They could have given our colleagues a heads up that their lives were about to be upended. We could have worked collaboratively to find a less damaging solution. Instead we had no word. None.” The Union is inquiring into the causes of Defenders’ budget deficit and the decision-making process that led to the layoffs. “No one disputes that we’re living in a different world, economically and socially,” the Union spokesperson continued, “but this decision has hurt a lot of people. We want to know if it was truly necessary. At the moment, some things don’t add up.” Prior to layoffs, Defenders of Wildlife had about 176 staff positions, 48 of which were vacant. Eighteen staff had already departed the organization since January, and 14 open positions totalling $1.5 to 1.6 million in salary are currently listed on the organization’s website. Defenders recently hired a newly-created Senior Vice President of External Communications at a total annual cost of around $300,000 per year to manage the organization’s reputation. Clark was given a near $30,000 raise in FY 2022, earning a total compensation of $599,128. As of November 2022, the average Union member earned about $74,000 per year. The organization has also paid an unknown amount of donor funding, estimated in the hundreds of thousands, to law firms Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Littler Mendelson PC to stymie bargaining with the Union and refute charges of labor law violations issued to Defenders by the NLRB. Lawyers in such positions typically make between $500 and $1000 or more per hour, in addition to other billables. In the 16 months since Defenders began contract bargaining with the Union, the parties have reached only one tentative agreement. The NLRB ruled in the Union’s favor on four ULP charges in 2022, including the illegal retaliatory termination of Erica Prather for her union organizing activities, which required Defenders to pay Prather $87,000 in restitution. The Union filed additional ULPs in December 2022 and in February 2023, which are still under investigation by the NLRB. All told, Defenders has now discharged four Union leaders – Prather, the two BC members in the May 2023 RIF, and another BC member who was on a path to termination before resigning in February. The recent layoffs came just weeks after the end of a mandated 60 day period in which Defenders was required to post a notice stating it would not fire employees for their membership in or support of the Union. Today, Defenders of Wildlife CEO Jamie Clark signed a settlement with our union (represented by OPEIU Local 2) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on four unfair labor practice charges, including the illegal termination of Erica Prather for union organizing one year ago.
As part of the settlement, Erica will receive $87,000 in back pay and other restitution from Defenders of Wildlife. On the other ULPs, Defenders is required to post notices to all staff for 60 days with an implicit acknowledgement of wrongdoing on violating Section 8(a)(1) and (5) of the National Labor Relations Act. The settlement was reached hours before the NLRB was prepared to prosecute Defenders of Wildlife on these charges in administrative law court in Washington, DC – although President Clark and her attorneys (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLC and Littler Mendelson P.C.) could have settled at any time in the past six months. The parties were close to settlement on three of the four charges in November 2022 until Clark communicated about the pending settlement to all Defenders staff with the comment “Defenders is not making any admission that it did anything wrong by entering into this settlement.” Following this incident, the NLRB issued a consolidated complaint covering all four charges. Jamie sent an email to all Defenders staff on Sunday, February 5, announcing the settlement of the charges and cancellation of the trial. This time, the message contained no denial of wrongdoing. An additional unfair labor practice charge filed by Defenders United in December 2022 is pending investigation by the NLRB, with more likely to come. Over a year into bargaining, the parties have reached zero tentative agreements towards a final contract. Defenders United, including Erica Prather, and the Earth Day to Mayday Coalition of green unions will host three rallies outside of Defenders of Wildlife’s DC office (1130 17th Street NW, Washington DC 20036) on February 6, 7 and 8 from 8:15 - 8:45 AM to celebrate this admission of guilt and to demonstrate support for unresolved Unfair Labor Practices and continued challenges at the bargaining table. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a formal complaint against Defenders of Wildlife, a national environmental non-profit based in Washington, D.C. The complaint finds Defenders guilty of wrongfully terminating staff member Erica Prather for her involvement in union activity. The ruling resolves one of several Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges filed against Defenders by their staff union, Defenders United, represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), Local 2.
Happy Earth Day, friends! Today, inboxes all around the U.S. are filling up with urgent messages from Defenders of Wildlife, urging supporters to put themselves in the place of our imperiled polar bears, orcas, and other precious species in need of protection. We know, because we wrote them! But we wish we could have sent one more, to tell you about another endangered species – environmental workers.
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