Lewis Ginter workers dig in as wage dispute drags on
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Garden worker and operations assistant Calvin Ashley (right) with supporter Dre Prinz (left) on a sweltering Thursday afternoon. Every other car that drove by was honking in support and locals have been dropping food and water for protestors. Photo: Karri Peifer/Axios
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden will remain open as dozens of workers strike for higher wages and their first union contract.
Why it matters: The workers say they're prepared for a prolonged walkout, while the Garden's leadership says they've presented their best and final contract offer.
State of play: Around 58 Lewis Ginter workers — including horticulturists, gardeners, and guest and event services staffers — went on strike Wednesday, two days after union members voted to do so, per the union.
- The Henrico botanical garden says it has 130 staff members, per a statement from the business. But not all workers were eligible for the union, Garden operations assistant and union member Calvin Ashley tells Axios.
- Contract negotiations began in February 2025, the union says, and the two sides have agreed to most of the proposed collective bargaining agreement, per the Garden.
What they're saying: "Wages remain the central unresolved issue," the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM, said in a statement.
Zoom in: The union is seeking a $2 hourly rate increase for all members, whose average wage is currently $17.52 an hour.
- That's less than their initial ask of a $3.50 hourly bump and subsequent $3 proposal.
- The union says the Garden has offered hourly increases ranging from 50 cents and 75 cents during negotiations. The Garden declined to comment beyond their statement.
- IAM is also seeking 3% raises in 2027, 2028 and 2029.
- That's all still less than the roughly $25 an hour MIT estimates a single adult without children needs to live in the Richmond area, the union says.
The other side: The Garden says that before the workers unionized, it had increased wages 60% from its 2020 baseline and that it covers 94% of employees' health insurance costs.
- It also provides retirement contributions, paid time off and parental leave, and says its wages are in line with those at other local nonprofit cultural institutions.
- The union's proposed "immediate approximately 11.4% wage increase," along with subsequent raises, "is simply not sustainable" for the organization, it says.
Zoom out: The walkout follows two one-day strikes earlier this summer.
- A petition supporting their wage push has garnered more than 1,100 signatures and a GoFundMe for striking workers had raised more than $12,000 as of Thursday.
- Striking workers aren't being paid during the walkout, Garden learning coordinator Bracken Carter tells Axios.
- Multiple musicians scheduled to perform at the Garden this summer, including Jesse Welles and Graham Nash, canceled shows in solidarity with the workers.
- Those cancellations cost the Garden "tens of thousands of dollars in revenue," CEO Brian Trader said in an email to members obtained by WRIC.
What's next: IAM says its workers plan to picket in front of the Garden gates daily from 9 to 5 "until the Garden offers a decent contract."