NYC housing attorneys rally as potential strike nears: ‘A fair contract is possible’
- Lawyers with Legal Services NYC marched as their union negotiates a new contract
- If the union were to strike, it could impact hundreds of tenants as soon as March 7th
Unionized workers rallied outside of Legal Services NYC’s Manhattan office at 40 Worth St. on Monday amid contract negotiations.
Brick Underground/Celia Young
About one hundred lawyers and staffers at one of New York City’s largest legal aid organizations marched in Manhattan on Monday, as unionized employees ramp up pressure on their employer amid their negotiations for a new contract.
These Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) attorneys could strike as soon as March 7th, potentially impacting hundreds of NYC immigration and housing cases—including those of tenants represented by LSNYC attorneys under the city’s right to counsel program.
However, union President Corinthia Carter reiterated that staffers hope to avoid a strike and by securing a deal with management.
“Our goal is not to strike, it’s to get a fair contract,” Carter, who serves on the Legal Services Staff Association’s (LSSA 2320) bargaining committee, told Brick Underground Monday.
Unionized attorneys and workers with LSSA 2320 marched in front of LSNYC’s Manhattan office on 40 Worth Street on Monday afternoon, chanting slogans and marching near an inflatable rat in front of the building’s entrance. Some drivers passing by honked their horns in support.
The scene marked an escalation in LSSA 2320’s contract campaign. Earlier this month, staffers rallied outside Queens Civil Court in the first of a week of pickets across NYC. Attorneys and staffers seek to score a higher salary floor and more flexible work from home—two sticking points in the ongoing negotiations, Carter told Brick Underground on Monday.
Over the next week, LSSA 2320 staffers and LSNYC will meet for three marathon bargaining sessions. If they fail to come to a deal, unionized lawyers and workers could strike as soon as March 7th, Carter said. (The roughly 500-person union has already voted to authorize a strike.)
If the union were to strike, tenants could see their eviction or other housing cases delayed, Carter said. But in that event, attorneys will write up detailed case notes and memos to ensure that their clients are prepared, she added.
Higher pay and more flexible work from home would make it easier for attorneys to represent tenants, and could keep staffers from leaving LSNYC for better paid positions at competing organizations, Carter added.
“We want to be able to represent them without having to worry about how to pay rent,” Carter said. “Our clients are workers, and we’re workers too.”
Both parties seemed optimistic about avoiding a strike.
"We are in the home stretch this week with our final bargaining sessions and are very hopeful that we will come to an agreement on a fair contract,” Shervon Small, executive director of Legal Services NYC, said in a statement.
“We know our staff works hard to uplift vulnerable New Yorkers, especially in this tough economic and political climate, but we are committed to offering the best compensation package possible within the constraints of our funding," he added.
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