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BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) — Hundreds of lawyers who are public defenders in the city of New York have reached a tentative agreement with their employers, according to officials.

A tentative labor agreement with Brooklyn Defender Services and the union representing them was reached Tuesday night.

“We are pleased to announce that last night, Brooklyn Defender Services reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the BDS Union Chapter of ALAA-UAW Local 2325,”  said Lisa Schribersdorf, Executive Director of Brooklyn Defender Services. “This agreement ends a six-day strike and enables Brooklyn Defenders to continue to deliver exceptional legal services to the people of Brooklyn and Queens.”

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The striking union members included 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. 

Members of the union came back to work on Wednesday following the tentative agreement. 

BDS thanked Mayor Zohran Mamdani for providing additional defense funding, which allowed to them to provide significant salary increases and maintain employee contributions to their health insurance plans. 

The BDS union is stating that the tentative agreement is a win. 

“We owe this win to the tireless work of our bargaining committee, the dedication of our rank and file members who held down the picket line, and the support of our elected officials, union siblings, and community members, ” the union said on a social media post. 

The union was 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.

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Before the tentative agreement was set, 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. 

The tentative agreement is pending a vote by the union members.

PIX11’s Geovany Dias and Jay Dow contributed to this report.

Andrew Cruz is a digital content producer. A native New Yorker, he joined PIX11 in 2009 as a weather producer. More of his work can be found here.

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