Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Workers in Norfolk, Virginia, who work at Norfolk Botanical Garden, become the second botanical garden in the state to organize in as many years, with nearly two-thirds of them supporting the formation of the union with IAM Union (IAM).
Workers had a powerful outpouring of community support during their effort—hundreds of people signed a petition backing their union drive and lawmakers like state Sen. Angelia Williams Graves and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott also stood alongside them in their fight. Members are looking to have more input on the garden’s direction and to improve workplace safety, notably raising concerns about opaque or lacking inclement weather policies. Better pay was also a driver for the unionization push.
“We need to be a voice for everyone,” said Bridget Fitzgerald, the union organizer working with Norfolk garden employees. “If you can’t include everyone’s voice, then you’re still excluding those same 23 people who are essentially a third of the bargaining unit, and you don’t want to do that. You want everybody to come together in unity.”