Lewis Ginter makes 'best and final' offer to workers, union says

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden workers announced on Friday that garden management had made its last pay increase proposal earlier that morning, which the workers' union will vote on next week.

While representatives from the union – the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers – did not disclose the exact amount, they said the offer was the best yet from the garden but still a "disappointing offer with little movement."

The in-unit union members will review the proposed contract at a meeting next week and then vote on whether to ratify the document or strike it down at a following meeting. The IAM union has chosen to withhold the details of the proposal from the public so that the workers "can each make their decision without any outside influences," said IAM union organizer Bridget Fitzgerald.

Friday's meeting marked the final negotiation between Lewis Ginter management and workers, according to the union, in what has been a years-long process. Since April, workers have held several public pickets in front of the garden and two one-day strikes.

Prior to Friday, the garden's most recent offer was to increase hourly wages by 3%, which would equate to about 52 cents for the average staffer. The union has called this an "insulting and unlivable wage offer" that regressed from the garden's earlier offer of 75 cents more an hour.

The union initially was seeking $3.50 more an hour for workers but reduced that ask to $2.15 more an hour back in June.

Representatives of Lewis Ginter management did not respond to requests for comment by the time of this article's publication.

Union's call for a boycott has cost the garden 'tens of thousands,' according to CEO

On July 27, the IAM union called for a widespread boycott of the garden, asking garden members to consider cancelling their memberships and calling on residents to avoid visiting the garden until workers received "fair wages."

Since then, multiple musicians scheduled to play concerts as part of Lewis Ginter's "Groovin' in the Garden" summer series have cancelled their shows, saying they stand "in solidarity" with garden workers.

In a July 31 email to garden members, Lewis Ginter CEO Brian Trader said that the concert cancellations have caused the garden to lose "tens of thousands of dollars in revenue."

"Certain union members' intentional disruption of operations and the resulting cancellation of concerts as resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars in revenue that could have gone toward environmental education, care for our collections, support for the meaningful partnerships that make our Garden so vibrant, and yes, wages too," Trader wrote.

Trader said that the garden has "unfairly come under attack" by misinformation spread by the union that has "threatened the very well-being" of the garden and the community. He said that workers' allegations of the garden engaging in regressive bargaining are false, saying that the garden has consistently bargained "in good faith" since a portion of garden workers voted to unionize in October of 2024.

Both the garden and the union have agreed to 23 of 25 total articles in proposed employee contracts, with the two remaining articles being wages and the collection of union dues. After nine rounds of wage negotiations that included six in-person meetings, a contract has still not been agreed upon.

Despite union members saying that the garden lowered their wage proposals from its initial offer, Trader said that the garden only changed the structure of its offers after the union switched from discussing just base rates to discussing both base rates and annual increases. Union representatives deny that they initiated the structure change, saying the garden was the first to switch its proposals.

Trader said the garden offers "competitive benefits" including 35 days of paid leave for the first year of full employment as well as "competitive" entry wages. The garden implemented across-the-garden annual raises from 2021-2024, with pay increases totaling 3%, 7%, 5%, and 6% respectively, he said.

Garden leaders: 'They are negotiating like we are Boeing'

Trader also said that the leaders of the IAM union "do not understand the unique nature" of Lewis Ginter's operations, including the garden's annual budgeting structure.

"An International Union with nine executives making far more than the highest-paid garden employee has become the center of attention of our non-profit botanical garden," Trader wrote. "They are negotiating like we are Boeing, Harley Davidson, or United Airlines as they simultaneously attempt to smear and tarnish the beautiful image and reputation of our Garden."

The garden's union, which has a membership of about 60 to 70 staffers, released a statement in response to Trader's email, saying the letter was an "attack" on not only the union, but the workers themselves and their community supporters.

"They are attacking every working person who wants a decent wage for an honest day's work," the statement reads. "We're not asking for much. We want to be able to afford to live in the community we serve and continue doing the work we love. We want a living wage."

The current starting wage of garden workers is $15 an hour, although the garden has tentatively agreed to raise starting wages to $16 an hour, the union said. Despite receiving annual raises in 2021-2024, workers have not been given a raise over the past two years since union negotiations began.

The union also labeled Trader's statement of workers receiving 35 paid days off as a "misleading figure," saying that nine of those days are "normal holidays" (one being a day workers must still come in) while the rest are two floating holidays, 12 sick days, and 12 vacation days.

The statement said that the union "did not take the decision to call for a boycott lightly" and did not ask or expect musicians to cancel their shows at the garden.

The IAM Union also has filed an Unfair Labor Practice against the garden on April 30. The case is currently under investigation by the National Labor Relations Board.

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.