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NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) — Hundreds of public defenders and social workers voted to walk off the job on Thursday morning.
It comes after the contract between the union and Brooklyn Defender Services expired in June, with no new agreement. Negotiations went on for weeks with no success.
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The strike is expected to include public defenders, paralegals, investigators and social workers who represent Brooklyn and Queens residents who cannot afford private legal services in criminal, family, and immigration court cases.
However, the union assures that clients will still have representation in court for cases that cannot be postponed.
The union is demanding a base pay of $75,000 for all staff as well as changes to probation rules, better sick leave and protections against employee location tracking through a time-keeping app.
Representatives for the Brooklyn Defender Services say they offered substantial raises in the first year of the new contract, though they did not disclose how much, as well as 3% raises in the second and third years. The offer also included a freeze or reduction of worker health insurance contributions.
Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here.
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