By Noah Powelson<\/p>\n
While the threat of a mass public defender strike gridlocking New York courthouses appeared to be mostly averted, the city isn\u2019t out of the woods yet after a public defender union went on strike on Friday and as another threatened to follow on Monday. <\/p>\n
For the first time in the organization\u2019s history, unionized workers at Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem, who are represented by the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys \u2013 UAW Local 2325, went on strike Friday morning after bargaining fell through. The union brought over 100 attorneys and staff who represent low-income New Yorkers with their criminal, family defense, housing and immigration matters to the picket line in Manhattan. <\/p>\n
The union said their key demands include increased wages, a cost-of-living-adjustment that matches the growing cost of living in the city, and a no-premium, no-deductible health insurance plan for staff in their new contract. <\/p>\n
The union said that during its most recent bargaining session, NDS management offered a one percent COLA and did not include no-cost healthcare over the term of the proposed three-year contract.<\/p>\n
NDS also has offices based in Texas and Michigan, where union members staged picket lines on Friday. <\/p>\n
The union was joined on their first day of striking by Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who previously worked at NDS Harlem as an investigator before winning the Democratic primary for New York’s 13th congressional district in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo often people think of the term \u2018working class\u2019 and they don\u2019t include folks like lawyers,\u201d Chevalier told union members on strike. \u201cBut then I ask them \u2018Do you know what a public defender makes? Do you know what a public defender does?\u2019 They are the last lifeline for so many members of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democratic congressional candidate and Queens Assemblymember Claire Valdez and Queens Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez Rojas also appeared in solidarity with the strikers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeighborhood Defender Services workers are standing up and saying, \u2018no.\u2019 In one of the most expensive cities in the country, I\u2019m not going to back down from a fair wage, from childcare or healthcare benefits,\u2019\u201d Valdez said in a statement. \u201cWhen workers stand together, we aren\u2019t just fighting for ourselves as individuals, we\u2019re fighting for the entire working class, raising expectations and realizing our power.\u201d <\/p>\n
NDS did not respond to an Eagle inquiry for this story.<\/p>\n
The NDS union announced their strike two days after Brooklyn Defender Services, the second-largest public defender organization in the city, called off a strike of their own after reaching an agreement with their employer. <\/p>\n
ALAA union members at BDS went on strike on July 16. The union brought over 500 attorneys and support staff in both Brooklyn and Queens to the picket line before a deal on a tentative labor contract was made late Tuesday night, five days after the strike began. <\/p>\n
The details of the tentative agreement were not publicly available, but union spokespersons said it included a higher wage floor, more sick days and included some remote work options for most members.<\/p>\n
The terms of the tentative contract are being shared with union members, who at a later date will vote whether to officially ratify it. If members choose to reject the tentative contract, the strike could resume. <\/p>\n
But other city public defenders\u2019 unions may be joining NDS on the picket line soon.<\/p>\n
Both unions at BDS and NDS had their contracts expire on June 30, alongside the unions at Bronx Defenders, Center for Family Representation and Catholic Migration Services.<\/p>\n
The union that represents Bronx Defenders, which includes over 300 attorneys and staff, issued a strike deadline for the morning of July 27. If a deal is not made by then, the city could see over 450 union attorneys, social workers and advocates walk off the job across Manhattan and the Bronx.<\/p>\n
Neither of the unions that represent Center for Family Representation or Catholic Migration Services have issued strike deadlines at time of reporting.<\/p>\n
While each union has its own unique demands and dynamics with management, all are demanding increased wages and health care protections be included in their new labor contracts.<\/p>\n
If the four remaining unions go on strike, the city could see upwards of 600 attorneys and support staff across three boroughs walk off the job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Noah Powelson While the threat of a mass public defender strike gridlocking New York courthouses appeared to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-306441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}