We are Members of the Performing Arts Team at Longwood Gardens. One third of our colleagues were recently released in a manner we believe is unfair. We are asking our community to join us in petitioning Longwood Leadership to extend Seasonal Employment those who were recently let go.

True to the vision of Longwood’s founder Pierre S. DuPont, Longwood provides world-class performing arts programming of all types. These events are run by an extraordinary team of skilled individuals known as “Performing Arts Technicians.” They serve as stagehands, audio visual specialists, fountain show controllers, camera operators, video editors, lighting designers, and sound engineers. Over 90% of the Performing Arts Technician Staff hold part time status.

On March 13, 2025, approximately 30% of our part-time Performing Arts Technicians were let go because they had not worked since the Fall. They were then encouraged to reapply for seasonal postings. We view this as unfair because:

· The employees that were let go had no communication from Longwood regarding changes in departmental practice ahead of time.

· They were not given the chance to change over to Seasonal employment before being released.

· Several released employees were actively communicating with our department leadership about their intention to return to work in the spring.

· Many of the released employees participated in mandatory training and meetings, so they were not inactive in the first place.

· One employee offered to perform remote administrative work.

· Another employee’s wife had a medically complicated pregnancy with a newborn at home.

Furthermore, this fall and winter had limited opportunities for performing arts to sign up for work.

· The Indoor Fall Concert Series was put on hold to facilitate the Longwood Reimagined Project.

· The Chester County burn ban canceled the fire pit stations that normally provide winter work for Performing Arts. Staff members were given the option to drop their affected shifts. There was no indication that there would be any penalties for dropping those shifts.

Confusion followed the release of these employees. For decades, Longwood technicians worked frequently during the busy season, filled in as available during the winter, and returned in full force afterwards. But now a third of the crew has been fully deactivated and forced to reapply for their jobs. These dedicated workers had already been faithfully returning year after year.

Those of us remaining are deeply distraught. Our released colleagues hold a combined 45 years of institutional knowledge and 80 years of general experience in their craft. All are respected by peers and managers. Many are regarded as friends on our close-knit crew.

When the remaining staff asked upper management why this occurred, the reasons given were:

· Impacted employees were erroneously given “Part Time” status upon hiring and should have been hired as “Seasonal.”

· Employee availability “needed to meet the needs of the business.”

· The Performing Arts Technicians themselves said that there weren’t enough hours available for everybody to work.

The remaining staff were then informed that there were going to be Seasonal Positions posted to the general public in April.

As such, many of us who remain have come together in the spirit of solidarity and in line with Longwood Gardens’ own Organizational Values to "actively participate in our civic responsibility to our community in an informed, committed, and constructive manner to advance the common good”. We ask members of our community to join us in petitioning Longwood Leadership to do the right thing by our crew in extending a courtesy offer of Seasonal Employment to the individuals who were let go without having them reapply for the position.