Posts tagged Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
Lewis Ginter union workers reject ‘last, best and final’ contract offer
August 17, 2026 // Garden agreed to include the generous benefits it already offers its employees: Health Insurance and the organization’s HSA contributions (the Union proposed no changes) Retirement benefits with the organization’s contribution (the Union proposed no changes) 35 days of paid time off Three weeks of paid parental leave The Union’s current demand for an immediate approximately 11.4% wage increase for unionized staff, followed by additional increases in subsequent years, is simply not a sustainable approach for an organization that does not make a profit and must budget on a year-to-year basis.
Lewis Ginter CEO calls out union workers attempts to ‘smear and tarnish’ non-profit’s image amid labor contract dispute
August 6, 2026 // To date, we have opted to provide minimal comments to the broader media about negotiations in order to protect the Garden and respect the negotiating process. However, given the impact of the Machinists’ actions this past week, I’d like to use this opportunity to share some facts about negotiations. The Machinists union is a large international organization representing nearly 600,000 active and retired members across aerospace, defense, airlines, shipbuilding, rail, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other large industries in North America. They are sustained by union dues collected by their members. We are either the first, or among the first, botanical garden and non-profit organization their local lodge has represented. In fact, unions in museums, gardens, zoos and cultural sites are rare and the Machinists has little experience supporting the nature of the work we do as a place-based cultural site.