In a historic move last month, 97% of workers at two California national parks voted to unionize, joining the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE). Workers at Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings national parks had been organizing for years, but were unable to secure enough votes to unionize until this summer, when conditions for park employees became untenable.
The Trump administration’s mass firing of public workers eliminated a quarter of the permanent staff at the National Park Service, on top of a proposed cut of more than $1 billion to the park services budget. In spite of these cuts, the federal government is also demanding that the parks remain open, leaving the remaining park workers struggling to take on an impossible workload during the peak summer season. People are visiting the parks in record numbers, but park staff are unable to meet the demand for services. Some parks were left with no maintenance staff at all, and trails and campgrounds remain closed due to unaddressed damage. Workers are reporting that park scientists are cleaning public bathrooms and archeologists are managing ticket booths because there is no one else to do it.
The vote to unionize adds an additional 600 workers to the NFFE, which will give an opportunity for park workers to speak directly to congress, and which plans to develop labor contracts featuring job protections in the upcoming months.
