‘We are hemorrhaging:’ Woodland Park Zoo workers prepare to strike

Originally posted at mynorthwest.com

Woodland Park Zoo workers who are members of the Join Craft Council (JCC) Coalition of Unions are negotiating a strike over a new contract they hope will result in better pay and benefits.

Workers said they are frustrated that the zoo fails to value and retain an experienced workforce, according to a news release from Teamsters Local Union 117, an affiliate of JCC, on Monday.

“We are hemorrhaging critical animal care experience which directly affects the standard of care we can provide for our animals,” Allison Cloud, an animal keeper and member of Teamsters 117, said. “The zoo is forcing us to choose between our livelihoods and our animals, a heartbreaking decision no zookeeper ever wants to make.”

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Members of the coalition said low wages, cost of healthcare, low morale and high turnover also put the zoo’s Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accreditation at risk.

If there is a strike, the coalition said the group of 200 workers would devise a skeleton crew for the animals and the zoo would have to close to the public.

“We are making contingency plans to ensure the continued well-being of the animals if we are forced to strike,” Janel Kempf, a learning coordinator with the zoo and a shop steward with Teamsters 117, said in the release.

“A strike is an absolute last resort and one that none of us takes lightly, but the zoo keeps pushing us in that direction. If the zoo doesn’t change course soon, we will have no other choice than to withhold our labor,” she continued.

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JCC and the zoo have been negotiating for the last ten months, according to the coalition. A Woodland Park Zoo spokesperson told MyNorthwest on Tuesday they will continue to negotiate.

“The zoo continues to bargain in good faith and comes to the table with good intentions,” the spokesperson stated via email. “We share their values of fair wages and are eager to reach an agreement.”

The next meeting between the zoo and JCC is scheduled for Friday. Workers said, via a public statement, if they do not accept the zoo’s proposal, they will take their case to the public “through direct, concerted action.”

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.

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