Queens Botanical Garden workers claim they were fired for unionizing

Two former part-time instructors at the Queens Botanical Garden alleged that some of the instructors were terminated in retaliation for voting to unionize — and that their union did nothing to fight the firings.

The ex-employees said that the workers within the Queens Botanical Garden’s Education Department began talking with the union, District Council 37’s Local 374, in April 2023 to improve their working conditions and morale. On Dec. 13, 2023, the employees, including part-time instructors, a farm manager and an education assistant manager, unanimously voted to unionize, according to the National Labor Relations Board. 

But about a week later, five of the 12 part-time instructors received letters telling them that their seasonal positions had ended, according to Rebeca Pagan-Rodriguez, who was hired as a part-time instructor in February 2023 and was tapped as an organizer for the bargaining unit.

“They fired the five most recently hired employees. I called [one of the organizers] and said ‘There’s already retaliation, it’s been seven days,’” said Pagan-Rodriguez, who was among the employees who was let go.

Evie Hantzopoulos, who was named the executive director of the Flushing institution in 2022, said that the garden had to implement furloughs and make “seasonal adjustments in each department” because of the Adams administration’s November “Program to Eliminate the Gap” budget cuts. She added that the union was informed about the cuts late that month.

“QBG received not only a PEG cut in November, but also the unexpected complete elimination of our composting funding of over $400,000 annually,” she said in an email to The Chief.

She said that to “avoid significant layoffs across the organization, we reluctantly had to institute furloughs of one day per week for all full-time staff and the reduction of hours for all part-time regular employees.…We did this to keep as many staff positions as possible for the long term and avoid layoffs in the face of these deep cuts to our budget. No one was happy about it, least of all me.”

She also noted that seasonal employees typically finish their terms in October, November or December, given that visitations to the Garden drop once winter starts.

But the timing appeared suspect to the two former employees.

“We were told because of the budget cuts some people would be fired. I think it was just convenient timing for them to announce that,” said a part-time instructor who worked at the garden until this past summer who wished to remain anonymous.

Hantzopoulos denied that the staffing cuts were related to the union vote. “There was absolutely no retaliation. The timing and severity of the cuts dictated our actions, which again, were across the organization,” she said. “We have a good relationship with DC37 at QBG and are in the process of beginning talks to update the contract that was last updated in 2009, as well as for the new part-time unit in education, which again, includes seasonal employees.”

 No seasonal instructors?

But the former workers said job listings for seasonal part-time instructor positions at QBG posted shortly after the firings were also evidence of retaliation.

Pagan-Rodriguez noted that the garden in late January advertised for seasonal part-time instructors who would work temporarily for the spring season and were expected to start in March. “It was the same description, the same job, but now it’s seasonal,” she said during a phone interview.

She said she was encouraged to apply, and was rehired in March and worked until August when the season ended. Four of the five former part-time instructors reapplied and were hired again, she said.

Hantzopoulos explained that the Queens Botanical Garden “has always had seasonal part-time employees in all departments, including seasonal instructors in our education department,” and noted that no part-time regular instructors were terminated.

But Pagan-Rodriguez and the anonymous ex-instructor disputed Hantzopoulos’ contention, both of them noting that they were hired as year-round employees. “I wasn’t a seasonal instructor; we were all part-time instructors. We always stayed on payroll,” Pagan-Rodriguez said.

The other former employee had a similar take. “I was hired as a part-time permanent employee, not a seasonal or temp. It seemed like they changed some things to make it a seasonal position,” the former instructor added.

Evie Hantzopoulos, QBG's executive director with Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, center, and Council Member Sandra Ung. Gerardo Romo/NYC Council …

'Union didn't take action'

Compounding their frustrations was the union’s apparent lack of concern about the terminations. “The union didn’t think there was enough to go on [to prove the firings were retaliatory],” Pagan-Rodriguez said. 

Her former colleague added, “We told the union that they laid five people off and we said ‘This is probably union-busting.’ And the union said ‘Let’s wait and see.’ I want them to take our concerns about union-busting seriously.”

Pagan-Rodriguez alleged that the workers “repeatedly” asked the union for help, and eventually so much time passed that they were no longer able to file a complaint with the NLRB. Complainants generally must file charges with the NLRB within six months of purported violations.  

“Out of the seven who weren’t fired, five are still there. [Evie is] slowly getting rid of them, and DC 37 isn’t doing anything about it,” she said.

DC 37 did not return a request for comment by press time.

The two ex-employees stated that the newly unionized workers were also annoyed by the lack of communication by the union and the lack of progress on starting the process to get a contract following the unionization vote. 

“It took four months to get us a negotiator,” the ex-employee who asked to remain anonymous said. "We would meet on Zoom with our negotiator and she would never say anything relevant to getting a contract. It was very bizarre."

Pagan-Rodriguez said that after nine months of no movement, the workers emailed DC 37’s head of research and negotiations to request a change in negotiators, “as a last ditch effort to move the process along.”

The former part-time instructor chose to leave the job, citing a work environment that had become “toxic.” 

“It was a really intense workload for $20 an hour. There was a lot of pressure on us, and we felt like we weren’t being listened to,” the ex-employee said. “I just felt seen as very disposable by upper management.”

The workers said they initially were interested in joining DC 37 to address issues like heavy workloads, which included teaching large groups of students touring the garden and traveling to schools. They also noted that they were paid less than employees at other cultural institutions, earning $20 to $23 an hour, and that instructors who visited schools were paid at the same rate as those who stayed in the garden.

But Pagan-Rodriguez, who chose not to apply as a part-time instructor for the current season because of scheduling conflicts, said that it was “distressing” how the institution’s education department has fared after joining DC 37. “It’s so disheartening and I feel so bad. These are people who have put their whole heart and soul into the garden,” she said.

clewis@thechiefleader.com

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