Animal Care Keepers picket for higher wages

Members of The Living Desert Animal Care Union, which is affiliated with AFSCME District Council 36, held an informational picket on Saturday to call for public support after three years of negotiations with The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens (TLD).

The animal care keepers at TLD care for all the animals, sometimes in extreme heat and unsafe conditions, and they do it because they care about their wellbeing. “Being an animal care keeper at The Living Desert is both the most rewarding and the hardest job I have ever had in my life,” said Zoe Crawford, a member of the bargaining team. “We train animals, we maintain their habitats, we give them medicine, we construct things, we are doing everything that’s for their benefit, and I love it.”

There three articles that TLD and The Living Desert Animal Care Union have not come to an agreement on; sick leave, dues deductions, and wage increases. The animal care keepers make less than a living wage and TLD management is refusing to agree to a $0.70 wage increase. “On our current wages, we cannot afford to live here. There is a continuation of people leaving because they can’t survive out here on this wage,” said Devon Campbell, an animal care keeper at TLD. “I’m a Georgia native and I came out here for this opportunity so I can work with some different animals. I’ve been in this industry for about a decade now and this is definitely not fair wages. Other zoos are increasing their pay to keep up with the times, but The Living Desert is not.”

The Living Desert Animal Care Union has garnered support from the Coachella Valley community. Many people who visited the zoo on Saturday during the informational picket submitted letters of support for the animal care keepers to TLD Director RoxAnna Breitigan and CEO Allen Monroe. The letters called for Breitigan and Allen to ‘negotiate in good faith and finalize a contract with fair wage increases.’ If you wish to submit a letter of support, click here.