Bird Union/Local 1180 Members Rally For a Fair Contract After Over One Year Of Bargaining

Workers at the National Audubon Society, members of The Bird Union-CWA Local 1180, held a rally outside the nonprofit’s headquarters on March 29th to demand that Audubon bargain in good faith and stand by its renewed commitments towards creating a more inclusive and equitable workplace. The Bird Union members, who have been bargaining for over a year for their first union contract, were joined at the rally by CWA Local 1180, District 1, and National leadership as well as local elected officials including NYC City Comptroller Brad Lander and Councilmembers Carmen De La Rosa and Julie Menin.

The rally was originally set to take place at the world famous Cipriani catering hall on the evening of the Audubon Society’s gala, a major annual event thrown by the organization for donors and other VIP guests. After the announcement of the Bird Union’s intent to rally and picket outside of the gala, the Audubon Society canceled the entire event.

Several workers spoke out at the rally about the dire working conditions they have faced and why they decided to unionize, while others highlighted the disrespect shown to the workers by Audubon Society leadership at the bargaining table.

"We deserve a seat at the table. We deserve a say in our working conditions. We deserve fair pay for all, good healthcare, and predictable raises so we can build lives and careers doing this important work. We deserve physical and psychological safety. We deserve to live and work with dignity."

The workers demanded that the Audubon Society quit their union-busting and their stalling tactics that serve to prolong contract negotiations, which began in 2021. In addition to failing to adequately address the issues in the workplace that workers have been calling attention to, several months ago Audubon’s leadership unilaterally cut workers' healthcare benefits. CWA has filed three Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

"CWA is a fighting union," said Billy Gallagher, CWA District 1 Assistant to the Vice President. "We're not going to go away. Local 1180 is never going to walk away. Local 1180, their leadership, President Gloria Middleton, are going to fight until we get a fair contract!"