Volume 2, No. 18. September 27, 2002
Assembling
workers
When it comes to
staffing, zoos usually tap two sources: paid professionals and unpaid volunteers.
The Oklahoma City Zoo in Oklahoma has found a third source: paid-for professionals
at no cost.
This summer the zoo took advantage of the Jobs Opportunity Bank Security (JOBS)
program, a joint effort by the United Auto Workers Local 1999 union and General
Motors to keep GM factory workers from temporarily losing their paychecks. “It’s
a safety net that catches those people who would be laid off,” said Don
Berryman, UAW Local 1999 JOBS coordinator. Indicative of the partnership that
created the program in 1984, Berryman has a counterpart, Craig Guy, who serves
as the GM JOBS coordinator.
When a plant needs to cut back on its work force because of a slowdown in orders
or a retooling of the assembly line, instead of laying off workers GM assigns
them to jobs at local community service organizations. GM continues paying the
workers’ salaries and maintains their benefits and seniority status. The
community organization gets free and dedicated labor until the GM employees
are recalled.
The GM plant in Oklahoma City this spring sent 169 employees to 29 different
agencies. The Oklahoma City Zoo started out in May with 33 and by September
were down to 19 as the plant started recalling its workers. “They are just
a delight to work with, cooperative and happy and kind and very positive people,”
said Donna Mobbs, executive assistant to the zoo director and manager of the
program for the zoo. “You want happy people working here, and they are.”
They also come with valuable skills. Many were assigned according to their talents
and interests. A couple with graphic arts experience were assigned to the zoo’s
graphics department, and some of the mechanics worked in maintenance. Others
said they wanted to learn new skills, and some of those went to the horticulture
department or helped the animal keepers. “Some didn’t care, they just
said, ‘Put me anywhere,’” Mobbs said, and the zoo was able to
supplement its car park, front gate and children’s zoo staffs. “About
everything you can think of, they do,” Mobbs said. “We had them building
fences, we had them in birds, we had them cleaning barns and feeding antelope.”
Through August the GM workers had logged 15,544 hours of work. “They’ve
helped us accomplish so many things much more quickly than we could have without
them,” Mobbs said. “We don’t have to pay a cent.” The only
requirements placed on the receiving organization is that the GM employees work
40 hours a week, eight hours a day and get their contractual breaks and lunches.
As GM’s fortunes rise, however, the zoo’s access to the workers drop;.
“I hate it when (GM) calls; I say, ‘No, you cannot have them,’”
Mobbs said. “Then I call the GM employees, and they are always ‘No,
we don’t want to go back.’ They work on the assembly line, and here
they are out and about and get to do what I think is cool stuff.”
“You’re outside, not inside doing the same thing every 45 seconds
to a vehicle,” said Barryman, who agreed that many of the workers were
loath to give up their zoo jobs. "You get spoiled, like a kid." So
did the Oklahoma City Zoo.
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