The union representing 362 Toronto Zoo workers on strike says management staff are not fully trained to look after the health and safety of zoo wildlife despite claims by officials the animals will receive the best care possible.
“Our 5,000 plus animals that we have are being cared by a few managers that aren’t trained to do the work,” Christine McKenzie, president of CUPE Local 1600, told Global News on Thursday.
“Some of them used to be keepers but they haven’t done that work in a long time. So we have a lot of sensitive conservation programs that are ramping into gear right now, it being the spring.”
READ MORE: Toronto Zoo closed ‘until further notice’ as unionized staff go on strike
Unionized zoo employees walked off the job early Thursday morning after contract talks broke off between the bargaining committee and zoo management.
Jennifer Tracey, senior director of marketing and communications for the zoo, told Global News a robust contingency plan is in place which will see between 85 to 100 non-unionized staff members care for the animals during the strike.
“Staff will be arriving very early and we’ve all been given our specific assignments,” Tracey said.
“We will all be working with either a wildlife care supervisor, wildlife care manager or with one of the veterinarians. We also have a number of curators who also have knowledge with working with the animals.”
LISTEN: Jennifer Tracey of the Toronto Zoo joins AM640’s The Morning Show
Tracey said more than half of the striking workers include staff who don’t care for the animals such as employees in guest services, retails stores, marketing department, graphics staff, those who look after the zoo’s rides and 200 summer students.
“During regular hours we would generally be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., that’s when the zoo would be open to the public. We don’t have those kinds of hours now that the zoo is closed,” Tracey said.
“That’s why it’s much easier to focus the remaining staff just on the core care of the animals.”
READ MORE: Four African penguin chicks hatch at Toronto Zoo
Officials say security at the zoo will remain in place during the strike and will be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Veterinarian staff will also be on call to deal with health issues relating to any of the wildlife.
“We would normally have three vets on staff, one is our head veterinarian who oversees all of the wildlife health, and then we have one vet that is always on site,” Tracey said.
“They’re doing preventative medicine, not just emerging cases. They have a number of procedures and roles, routine checkups they do throughout the day.”
READ MORE: Toronto Zoo bids farewell to Juno the polar bear
Meanwhile, the official grand opening of the zoo’s new $18 million high-tech Wildlife Health Centre scheduled to open on Monday has been postponed.
Tracey said the facility is already fully functionally and will not be affected by the strike.
VIDEO: Toronto Zoo announced successful hatching of African penguin chicks
With files from Marianne Dimain
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