As part of a strategic initiative to organize workers across National Parks and the Forest Service, the IAM Organizing Department and National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) has secured multiple election victories within the National Parks and Forest Service — all in Colorado. These wins collectively cover an impressive 650 employees, laying the groundwork for stronger worker representation and protections in the federal workforce.
IAM Assistant Organizing Coordinator Jerry McCarty, with vital support from IAM Organizing Assistant Director Juan Eldridge, Special Representative Art Jackson, and multiple NFFE-IAM representatives, have filed dozens of election petitions since the start of the year.
“We already knew a lot of these Forest Service folks,” said McCarty. “When the Trump Administration started threatening federal workers, people started reaching out for support. We are the largest union in the Forest Service already, and they knew we had their backs.”
“We had a meeting on top of Yosemite Mountain,” said IAM Assistant Organizing Director Juan Eldridge. “Park rangers, biologists, firefighters—it was a wide mix of folks who just wanted a voice and some protection in their workplace.”
Each unit required separate elections for what the forest service deemed professional and non-professional workers, but the energy on the ground among all was overwhelmingly pro-union.
“We ended up signing them all up—just like dominoes,” said McCarty. “We’ve got at least another 30 or 40 election petitions filed right now. We’re talking about 3,000 more people by the end of this year.”
This surge of new members will be covered under a master agreement already in place for Forest Service and National Park Service workers.
A few of the most notable newly-organized locations are Pike San Isabel National Forest, San Juan National Forest, and Arapaho Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee Grasslands.
“It’s been 99% yes votes in some places,” said McCarty. “These workers are pumped to have union protection.”
McCarty now has his sight set on 7,000 currently unrepresented U.S. Geological Survey employees.
“We don’t plan on losing a single one of these elections,” said McCarty. “It’s been a real team effort, and the IAM Organizing Department has been behind us every step of the way.”
“We are putting a lot of support from the International on these organizing efforts for workers in the federal sector,” said IAM Resident General Vice President Jody Bennet. “During a time when federal employees most need support, the IAM is there to stand with them and fight for them. This is all part of a greater effort to bring strong representation to workers in all of our industries with a large-scale organizing push.”
As the victories pile up, the IAM’s federal sector campaign is becoming a model of effective organizing, proving that even the most remote workers in the most uncertain times can find power in a union.
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