Why We Should All Be Supporting The Employees at ALDF
The recent unionizing efforts by the employees of Animal Legal Defense Fund (“ALDF”), and in particular, the failure of ALDF leadership to recognize both the rights and the desire of ALDF employees to unionize, has spawned the writing of this blog.
I see this as one of the most important employment-based matters that has taken place in our Movement since #ARMeToo, and frankly, regardless of the outcome, the attempt by ALDF employees to unionize should serve as a wake-up call to all of the leadership in our Movement.
Before we dig in any further, let’s take a ‘quick look’ at the history of the labour relations movement, how union organizing might actually help animals, and then I’ll suggest the kinds of questions that all leaders in our Movement should be asking themselves.
Prior to the industrial revolution, most working class people lived in agrarian societies where farms were small-scale, and there was an emphasis on ‘simple living’. But starting in the mid-18th century in the UK, there was a surge of mechanistic innovations which led to products which had previously been hand-crafted (e.g. clothing) to become mass produced through the development of machinery. These new technologies used methods such as steam and coal to facilitate the mass production of products such as textiles, and the building of factories to house these machines - leading to the birth of capitalism.
Agricultural jobs were on the decline, and people were forced to move to cities for work, and the majority of the jobs available to the working class were inside those factories.
Working conditions in those factories were beyond horrendous. There were no laws regarding hours of work or pay, factories used child labour (cue: Charles Dickens’ penning of Oliver Twist), and health and safety was quite literally non-existant. Factory development swept across the ocean to North America, bringing the egregious working conditions with them. As such, the birth of the labour relations movement was born out of the need to combat these physically dangerous working conditions, and seek to collectively negotiate for better working conditions for employees, including putting a stop to child labour.
Photo: Britannica
These conditions would continue for several decades all the while being combated by labour rights activists, and leading to the formation of one of the first unions in the United States in 1827 called the Mechanics’ Union of Trade Association in Philadelphia, with many more to follow.
Fast forward to 1960 in Canada, and you will find the first time that the word safety was introduced into legislation, and in 1970 the first Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in the United States with the intention to guarantee safe working conditions for all workers.
Physical safety in workplaces is, for the most part, a high priority for most organizations, thanks to the hard work of union activists, and the corresponding proliferation of unions who collectively bargain for better working conditions.
While all unions share the desire to represent employees collectively, they differ enormously in size, political affiliation, structure, and focus. Some provide coverage for workers in a single enterprise, some are craft unions with members across a range of specialties such as plumbers or carpenters, and some cover workers engaged in specific kinds of work such as hospitality or within the non-profit sector.
That said, safety is not just about physical safety. Safety is also about emotional safety. And, this more fulsome definition of what occupational safety entails, which is recognized in law in many jurisdictions, is one of the reasons that there is a deep and pervasive need for unionization, even in organizations and industries you might not expect.
For example, unionization has gained traction in Silicon Valley with the certification of The Alphabet Workers Union when a group of Google engineers unionized. The technology company, Kickstarter unionized in 2020 with the primary reason for doing so to give workers more clout, and in 2020, Glitch, a software company also unionized.
In other words, unionizing is not necessarily only about physical safety. It is about employees feeling heard, empowered, feeling emotionally safe, feeling safe from discrimination and sexual harassment, and feeling like the organization they work for prioritizes fairness.
The attempt by the employees of ALDF to unionize is their right. Their legal right. While I have not spoken to any ALDF employees directly, I can only anticipate that there are some very good reasons they have chosen to unionize. They have voted. They want The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (“Union”) to represent them. It is time for ALDF leadership to accept the fact that they have failed the employees thus far, and they must now welcome the Union with open arms. They must collectively bargain with the Union, and through that process, I hope that they learn how to take better care of their people.
The reality is that if employees in our Movement are not engaged, they simply cannot do their best work for animals. So, taking care of our people means that we are taking care of animals. It’s like being on a plane . . . if something is going wrong, you need to put your own oxygen mask on first before you can help those around you. ALDF employees need an oxygen mask so they can keep doing great work for animals.
And, as noted above, the situation at ALDF should be a wake-up call to all leaders in our Movement.
Here are a few questions for leaders, including Boards of Directors and Executive Directors, to ask themselves if they are wondering if their employees might be considering unionizing:
Does our organization:
have positive human resources practices?
consistently work in alignment with our mission, vision, and values?
train leaders on employee relations?
have clear, transparent, and consistently applied policies and procedures?
benchmark wages and benefits?
conduct employee surveys and act on the findings?
genuinely listen to employees?
have policies and processes for matters related to respectful workplaces?
have a commitment to diversity and inclusion?
is clear about what is expected from each employee?
engage in positive performance management practices?
provide opportunities for advancement and job enrichment?
have a culture of recognition?
ensure that workloads are fairly balanced?
truly and genuinely respect and encourage work/life balance?
If you don’t answer ‘yes’ to all of these questions, this might be a good time to reevaluate your human resources practices.
Unless and until the leadership in this Movement prioritizes the needs of vocational activists, then we should all be welcoming The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union with enthusiasm.
I want to help to empower you to be the best activist you can be. Please reach out with any questions and I’ll try to answer them in future blogs, anonymously of course!.
Always for the Animals,
Krista
Links:
ALDF Employees Seeking to Unionize: https://marcgunther.medium.com/workers-at-an-animal-protection-group-want-a-union-the-ceo-not-so-much-7912a00870c8
The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union: https://npeu.org/
ALDF and the Union: https://npeu.org/aldf
This blog series is provided for general information purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice or opinions of any kind. No one should act, or refrain from acting, based solely upon the materials provided on this website, any hypertext links or other general information without first seeking appropriate legal or other professional advice.
The intention of this blog is to promote the longevity and engagement level of the activist community within the Animal Advocacy Movement (AAM). The majority of the advice will be geared towards employees within the AAM in Canada and the United States, but may be applicable to other countries. All information provided assumes that the employee works within a non-unionized environment.
Krista is the Executive Director of For The Greater Good where she consults with animal protection organizations across North America on matters of organizational development and governance. In addition to holding five degrees and designations in human resources, including a master’s degree in organizational development and leadership, she is pursuing her doctorate focused on the employment experiences of animal rights activists in Canada and the United States. Krista first joined the Animal Advocacy Movement as the VP of Mercy For Animals in Canada where she led twelve undercover investigations into factory farms and slaughterhouses. Krista also served as the President of the Board for Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary for over five years, also now serves on several other Boards including One Protest, The Rancher Advocacy Program, Egg-Truth, and Dairy-Truth. Krista is also a member of Womxn Funders in Animal Rights. Krista is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Critical Animal Studies - https://journalforcriticalanimalstudies.org/ Prior to joining the Movement, Krista founded a boutique employment and labour law firm in Toronto where she consulted to employers across Canada and the U.S. for a decade, and before that she spent fifteen years in human resources including as the Vice President of HR for one of the largest software companies in the world.