After nearly two months, talks between the staff at Mobilization for Justice (MFJ), an organization that provides free housing legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers, and its management have made little to no progress.
A small crowd of workers showed up at 100 William Street on Friday, April 12 to picket in front of MFJ’s Manhattan offices. MFJ’s legal service workers––its attorneys, paralegals, support staff, receptionists, and front desk workers––have been striking since February 23. All are members of the MFJ Union, which is under the Legal Services Staff Association (LSA Local 2320) and part of the local United Automobile Workers (UAW) union.
Staff members carried picket signs and marched in front of a 10-foot-tall inflatable union rat. They came to show their determination to stay out on strike until they get a new contract.
MFJ Union members circled the front of the entrance to their work building and chanted in call-and-response tempo: “What’s injustice? Union busting! What’s injustice? Union busting!”
“Do what’s fair, do what’s right: MFJ can stop the strike.”
“They say cutbacks, we say fight back! They say cutbacks, we say fight back!”
“We’re on strike! Shut it down: New York is a union town!”
Workers had announced their walkout against MFJ management after being in negotiations for a new contract since mid-December of 2023. 93% of the MFJ Union’s 110 members voted to reject management’s last contract offer and declared an indefinite strike.
RELATED: Mobilization for Justice staff are working the picket lines
MFJ Union members have spent the last few weeks picketing at a different location every day: at the steps of the Bronx and Manhattan Housing Courts, in front of MFJ’s Manhattan and Bronx offices, and at City Hall. They are resolute in being seen by management and by the clients they normally work with. They’ve even taken on other actions, like handing out fliers in front of the homes of MFJ board members and rallying neighbors to email and ask board members to fight for workers to have a fair contract.
Weekly bargaining sessions
“We’ve been on strike for almost eight weeks now and they’re not bargaining in good faith,” said Wendy Grullon who has worked as a paralegal in MFJ’s Bronx office since 2019. “They haven’t really made any movement at the table, so we’re escalating [our picketing] at this point.” Grullon claims that MFJ’s Bronx office has at least 20 vacant positions that it has not been able to fill. That means the staff who do work there often take on extra tasks, even while they’re not receiving a salary they feel they can live on.
“I’m a paralegal and right now the salary I make is not a living wage for the current economic situation in New York City,” Grullon said. “So, I feel like I’m helping people with their housing situations while I’m having my own housing situation.”
For at least the past month, union and management representatives have been meeting in weekly bargaining sessions, but those sessions haven’t been productive.
“They’re just not moving,” said Nikita Salehi-Azhan, an MFJ tenant advocate and housing attorney. “Like they meet with our bargaining team, but they don’t bargain in good faith. In terms of a salary increase, they don’t move. It’s been a 2% raise for the last seven weeks, and they know we’re not okay with that [and] they know we won’t vote to ratify that, but that has still been their offer. To me that’s not bargaining in good faith [and] that’s not listening to your employees. And that’s why we’re still out here and we’re not going to stop until we get some sort of relief.”
Calls to the MFJ office for comment about the strike and contract negotiations went to a pre-recorded message.
Meanwhile, a member of the MFJ Union Communications department told the AmNews that the union has also had problems maintaining contact with management representatives.
Management has upheld its offer of 2% raises in the first year, second year, and third year for the vast majority of MFJ workers––which the union says is a pay cut and is unacceptable. They do appear somewhat interested in the idea of having equitable remote work flexibility, so that support staff, like other MFJ workers, can also do some of their work remotely on a rotating basis. But on crucial issues like healthcare and time off, both sides remain at odds.
One MFJ Union bargaining team member wrote in a report that, “despite our efforts management has shown minimal movement since the strike began particularly regarding overall salary increases and protecting our vulnerable workers. This week we agreed to mediation in hopes for real progress. However, without a substantial shift in management’s approach at the table, we’re unsure if this will help or if it’s just a delay tactic.”