As I mentioned in Part I of this blog, when I learned that nonprofits could unionize,* I wanted to find out more for Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.) as well as for others who work in the vegan animal rights movement. My goal with this blog is to briefly discuss the two unions that I’m familiar with that organize nonprofit employees.
When starting the process, I loved that the Teamsters rep reminded me that if F.E.P. wanted to start a union, he would not be speaking with me or the executive director. It made me smile.
But first, I want to acknowledge some of the feedback that we have received since Part I was released.
As expected, much of the feedback came from former and current employees of various vegan animal rights organizations, as well as their friends, confirming what I had written. Even though I knew it was probably still the case, I am still heartbroken. I haven’t worked for a vegan animal rights organization (outside of F.E.P.) since mid-2006, and to hear things have not improved or are worse is a sad sign.
I love that even friends of people who work in these environments have written on their behalf to find out what they can do. My advice is to be there for your friends and support them—be there to remind them of their value and what they deserve. And, most importantly, remind them that standing up for themselves, for equity, and for justice does not hurt non-human animals. And when they are also speaking against racism and sexual harassment, they are also helping the animals.
It is important to remember that many people stay in these jobs because they love their work (I know I did). Many also don’t want to work for an organization or business that conflicts with their values, and well, for many, they need the income.
As I ponder out loud, I do wonder if it would make a difference to encourage organizations that you like to not work or collaborate with organizations that are mistreating their employees or have internal/external problems with racism, sexism, or homo- or transphobia. Maybe writing to them and asking them to stop working with those organizations could help.
I write this part wondering if any leaders of vegan animal rights organizations read my blogs—my guess is no—but I will say it is imperative that the heads of vegan animal rights organizations (not always the founders) stop using non-human animals as excuses for their bad behavior. This behavior is truly reprehensible. Any individual who uses their employees’ compassion as a weapon has no business being in charge.
If these employees have been working hard and you have always approved of their work, why, when they want to have a larger voice, would you turn on them? I just don’t get it. These are your colleagues. These are people who you know do good work. Please listen to them. Be open to them and stop implying they are hurting the organization—they are not.
As of right now, I know of two unions that organize non-profit organizations: the Teamsters and the Nonprofit Professionals Employees Union (NPEU).
Also, please know that I am not suggesting a preference between either organization; both seem to have an excellent history and offer much-needed support for workers.
This is by no means intended to be a comprehensive review of either organization, just a few bits I thought were useful to share.
Both offer:
- Wages, retirement, working conditions, abuses of overtime, and benefits
- Enforce contracts.
Each also offers a bit more as well.
The Teamsters Union can assist employees (they are the union that North Bay Jobs with Justice is under):
- By speaking directly to the management about problems experienced by the staff.
Just to explain: I have been an executive director for two different vegan organizations (1999–2006 and 2007–2020), and no matter how much I didn’t want the employees to see me as their boss, they did. It is really impossible for employees to not see the person who is responsible for their livelihood (their boss or head of the organization or company) as someone to whom they can safely complain about anything.
Though keep in mind, a number of vegan animal rights organizations employ the founder’s partners or spouses, which makes it even more difficult to complain about problematic behaviors.
Oftentimes, organizations/companies try to dissuade workers from coming forward about problems with a manager or key employee, saying it would hurt the organization (and as I explained in Part I, this can translate as “this is going to hurt the animals”) if the racism, sexism, bullying, etc., were to become public.
For example, let’s say an employee is uncomfortable with sexist jokes made by a colleague. They could speak to their union representative about this, and the union would speak to the organization and tell them this needs to stop. Without any names.
The union is safe, as they are not an employee.
- Through the union, the employee has a pension plan vs. a retirement plan that is not based on stocks, which can go up or down.
- The union employee retains the same pension plan when they move to another organization within the same union. As I mentioned in my other blog, activists tend to move between organizations, and as long as it is within the same union, your pension stays with you.
- The business benefits from being unionized, as it saves them money by having a contract grievance resolution, so the organization would not need to hire attorneys. And that money does not come out of the organization’s pockets like lawyers’ fees would.
NPEU, which is the union ALDF United is working with, in addition to enforcing contracts, wages, etc., they also:
- Work to create transparency, internal equity, and participatory decision making within the organization.
As with many unions, the goal has been to get better treatment for the workers, but NPEU also recognizes the desire of employees to have a bigger voice in the organization.
NPEU’s main focus is working with non-profit organizations, and they understand employees who love the work that they do but just want to be treated better, earn living wages, and again, not be guilted into working constantly want a quality of life.
When it comes to working for a vegan animal rights organization, more often than not, you are doing so because you care about the issue, and more than likely, it is not something you see as a 9am–5pm job. You have ideas, and you are personally invested in how the organization runs internally but also externally. You want to be able to have a say in the organization, and you want to have some transparency.
So the goal with NPEU includes that very important component.
Instead of the union communicating with management, it would be the employees of the organization communicating with management. In other words, it is more like grassroots organizing, with the employees doing much of it. All the work is up to them and between the employees and the employers.
The goal is really to empower the employees.
The union is still there to help the employees through the bargaining process and bargain over workplace protections to keep them from getting fired without cause.
In conclusion, I hope that the employees of vegan animal rights organizations will continue to fight not only for non-human animals but also themselves. Creating a more just and equitable movement for everyone—where each is valued, respected and appreciated—is not only consistent with a movement grounded in compassion but also one that will push the fight for animal rights further.
Additional information and contact information for each:
Teamsters
Tom Woods 415-828-7852
Website: teamsters665.org
How and why unions – Teamsters
Women’s conference webinars – Teamsters
Black History is the Story of Every Teamster – Teamsters
Nonprofit Professionals Employees Union (NPEU)
Email – contact@npeu.org
About NPEU – NPEU
Why NPEU is Still Organizing During the Coronavirus Crisis – NPEU
A Quiet Frenzy of Union Organizing Has Gripped the Nonprofit World – In These Times
Workers Are Forming Unions at Nonprofits – The Washington Post
*Also, I want to acknowledge that historically, unions have been very white and have not been very open or accepting of Black and Brown individuals, and well, have been racist. Given the types of jobs that have been unionizing, you see more Black and Brown-led unions these days.
Esta entrada tiene 2 comentarios
lauren, thank you for this. My experience with an AR non-profit here in the US, added to what I witnessed being done to co-workers in that organization and a few others, has left me with a profound sense of disenchantment with the movement. The movement is small enough that many feel that if they were to speak out they would never be able to find employment elsewhere, and the message that «you will hurt the movement is repeated over and over «. The movement loses passionate and incredibly talented people year after year because there is such a sense of learned helplessness that comes from seeing folks who gaslit and abused you and other people be celebrated by the movement. Coming from a country where unions are not as taboo as they are here, I was surprised to see the pushback experienced by those proposing unionizing AR orgs. I hope this changes, because the human and non-human animals need a vibrant, innovative and courageous movement.
Simone, so sorry to learn you have experienced this as well. It is sad that it is so prevalent within the movement. Thank you for your courage in speaking up here.