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Employees at Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon national parks have voted to unionize. Over 97 percent of ballots cast in the elections, which ran from July 22 to August 19, were in favor of unionizing with the National Federation of Federal Employees. The move will help employees at both parks negotiate with the federal government on workplace conditions.
The elections come largely as a response to President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the ranks of federal workers. Yosemite is operating with approximately 40 fewer permanent staffers than it did last summer, while seasonal hiring has also lagged behind expectations. As a result, current employees are stretched thin—grappling with a 40 percent spike in search and rescue operations between January and July, and facing a 48 percent drop in park law enforcement staffing since 2010.
“We just want to be protected from this administration,” a Yosemite worker who helped organize votes told Bloomberg.
One-fifth of national parks struggling due to staffing cuts
Amid deep cuts, more than 90 parks have reported problems like lost revenue and cuts to emergency services. At least one-fifth of the country’s 433 parks have been significantly strained and understaffed because of steep cuts mandated by the Trump administration, according to internal government data obtained by The New York Times. One expert called this “a dangerous path.”
Routine tasks like cleaning and stocking the bathrooms have gone undone. Fewer rangers have given tours and lectures. Visitor centers have reduced hours. And parks have lost millions of dollars because they are unable to staff entrances and collect visitor fees, according to the Times.
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It just feels like we’re being taken advantage of... We are buffering the public because we care. But how long is that going to last? Because it’s not fair that we keep getting the hit to make it seem like everything’s OK.”
