CUPE 1600 Toronto Zoo Workers

Who at the Zoo

Looks after 5000 animals , 1,2 millions humans, 10 km of walking trails,287 hectares of property…….?

That would be the over 400 permanent ,part time and seasonal members of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 1600 who are the horticulturalists, maintenance staff , zookeepers, tradespersons, animal nutrition assistants, veterinary technicians, education staff, administration staff, public relations staff , curatorial assistants, rides and retail and many more.

They are like Mark Bongelli who spends his days training hawks, owls, bald eagles, falcons and other birds to do free flying shows with the zoo’s outreach and discovery unit. He says the thing he likes most about his job is interacting with animals and birds and forming a bond with them.

The thing zookeeper Kim Meehan likes the best about her job is the knowledge that someone who really cares about animals is doing it . Many zookeepers donate their free time to helping animals. Kim is involved with two African sanctuaries and she does educational presentations here at home about great ape causes.

Kim and Mark are the kind of zoo employees, you have at the zoo and want to keep here .

Here is some of the great work CUPE 1600 members do :

Right now zookeepers at the Toronto Zoo are working on special captive breeding programs to save two endangered species- the black footed ferret and the Vancouver Island marmot.
The animal nutrition assistants make food for bats out mangoes, gelatin, and vitamins and minerals. They create food cubes for giraffes out onions and carrots. This food is shipped all over North America
The zoo’s education, public relations , office and sales staff educate the public about zoo activities and keep it a viable financial operation.

A world class zoo needs rainforest and savannahs and gardens. Zoo horticulturalist run a greenhouse devoted to propagating tropical and temperate plants. They turn manure into compost, save endangered plants and run a seed bank.They also do outside projects , like working to potect a oak savannah in Whitby, Ontario.

All these workers and many more do a great job.

Many of them have university degrees. All of them are highly trained. They are the educated ,skilled dedicated people needed to make the zoo work. Yet a study commissioned by CUPE 1600 and the Toronto Zoo showed that these very same staff earn less than people doing similar work at Ontario Place , Canada’s Wonderland, the Calgary Zoo, City of Toronto workers and other workplaces

The Toronto Zoo is one of the largest zoos in the world. AND a World Class Zoo needs world-class staff

To keep the best staff, the zoo must pay its workers decent wages. It only makes sense that the best way to keep staff and keep the zoo world class is to improve staff wages.

For more about CUPE 1600 and its members, please look around our site or go to the CUPE 1600 at a Glance section to contact us.

In this Section

CUPE 1600 At a Glance

For more information about the local and who to contact :

The Latest on Bargaining

TORONTO, May 20 - Toronto Zoo staff endorse new contract .Front-line staff at the Toronto Zoo, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1600 voted to accept a contract offer that was hammered out last weekend.

GOT COPY OF CHANGES TO CONTRACT ?

If you have not received a copy of the ratified memo of settlement, please see an exec officer or steward. The updated contract will not be ready for awhile as the union and zoo have to draft it, then double check it, sign it and then send it to printing. For now the contract is the old contract(ending March 31, 2005) and the deal ratified on Thursday May 19th at the meeting. Look at them together to find out what the contract says . [May 22, 2005 11:56 AM]