Workers in Norfolk, Virginia who are employed at the Norfolk Botanical Garden have become the second Botanical Garden in the State to organize in as many years, with nearly two-thirds supporting the formation of the Union with the International Association of Machinists (IAM). Workers had a powerful outpouring of community support during their effort with hundreds of people signing a petition backing their Union drive, as well as support from State Senator Angelia Williams Graves and U.S. Representative Bobby Scott. The new Union Members want more input on the Garden’s direction and improvement in workplace safety, notably raising concerns about opaque or lacking inclement weather policies. Better pay was also a driver. “We need to be a ‘voice for everyone,’” said Bridget Fitzgerald, the Union Organizer who worked 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.”

For More On This Organizing Labor News Story, Go To: Norfolk Botanical Garden workers vote to form a union, the latest in a growing wave of labor wins in Virginia