Members of the Neighborhood Defender Service Union (NDSU) have voted to walk off the job and go on strike this Friday, July 24, at 8 a.m., if management does not agree to preserve employees’ no-cost healthcare benefits and offer cost-of-living salary increases in its negotiations with the union.
The possible walkout would be a first for NDSU, a chapter of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys, UAW Local 2325. NDSU represents more than 230 workers, and a walkout would come on the heels of a current strike by public defense workers at Brooklyn Defender Services, which has over 500 public defense workers, including some 280 attorneys.
NDSU workers represent low-income New Yorkers in criminal, family, housing, immigration, and other court matters.
Jahnavi Bhaskar, a senior attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and a chapter chair in UAW Local 2325, said the strike vote itself shows how far negotiations have deteriorated.
“This is the first time we’ve even gotten to the point of holding a strike authorization vote,” she said. “We had a 97% authorization vote among our members. And … we’ve never had to hold even a vote to authorize a strike. We’ve never had to set a strike deadline, so this is all unprecedented for us.”
NDS members want to be able to continue having a no-premium, no-deductible healthcare plan. They also say management has proposed salary increases that would amount to a pay cut over time because they would not keep up with inflation, and that management is seeking to roll back post-retirement healthcare benefits for future retirees.
In response to questions about the contract negotiations, Piyali Basak, managing director of NDS Harlem and Shannon M. Anglero, NDS’s deputy executive director, sent the following statement to the Amsterdam News: “Neighborhood Defender Service has spent nearly four months negotiating in good faith with the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, reaching tentative agreements on major provisions like dental care, mental health funds, hiring commitments for system-impacted individuals, and technology policies. We’re committed to reaching an agreement that offers quality healthcare, increased salaries, and that ensures our financial stability so that we can continue to offer the best representation possible to our clients. Should a temporary work stoppage occur, NDS has comprehensive contingency plans in place to ensure client representation does not stop. Our managing attorneys and supervisors are prepared to continue serving our clients, and our emergency contact lines will remain fully operational to protect our clients’ rights.”
New York Amsterdam News Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Elinor R. Tatum sits on the board of Neighborhood Defender Service.
NDSU represents public defenders and legal staff at offices in Harlem and the Bronx in New York, Detroit and Wayne County in Michigan, and San Marcos, Texas. Nationally, the union members are part of ALAA-UAW Local 2325, which also includes the Brooklyn Defender Services, the Bronx Defenders, Legal Aid Society of New York City, New York Legal Assistance Group, Urban Justice Center, CAMBA Legal Services, Center for Appellate Litigation, Office of the Appellate Defender, and other nonprofit legal organizations.
Members of the Brooklyn Defender Services began their strike July 16 after its union failed to reach a new contract with management; BDS has said supervisors and managers would cover cases during the work stoppage.
The Harlem NDS union’s contract expired on June 30. That day, members marched and picketed outside their offices –– they were joined by newly elected congressional candidates Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier. Avila Chevalier is an NDS investigator and NDSU member and had also been identified as part of the unit whose contract expired.
Bhaskar said the union has spent nearly 80 hours in bargaining sessions and is still willing to continue negotiating. “We have been in bargaining since April, and we’ve had over, I think, 17 or 18 days of bargaining, and we’ve spent over 80 hours in bargaining sessions. Our core demands throughout that whole process have been consistent and the same, which is that we want a guarantee of our current health care plan.”
According to the union, management’s latest proposal does not guarantee the no-cost healthcare plan for the life of a three-year contract. The union also says management has proposed a tiered retiree healthcare structure under which current retirees would keep post-retirement benefits, while current employees who retire in the future would lose them. On wages, the union says management has proposed only a 1% cost-of-living adjustment over the entire three-year term.
Management has previously said it was working to determine next steps in the event of a strike and remained in search of a bargaining-table solution. In a June report by City & State New York, management said: “We respect our employees’ legally protected right to peacefully express their views.” The same report said management contended it could no longer afford the current premium- and deductible-free healthcare plan because of rising healthcare costs.
The union argues that the explanation doesn’t match the organization’s finances. It points to almost $2 million in extra unrestricted funds it received in the New York City budget that ended on June 30. Union members say those funds should be used to support the workers in Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, the Bronx, Detroit, Wayne County, and San Marcos.
The union says it does not want to leave clients without representation and hopes to settle before the July 24 deadline. If no agreement is reached, Bhaskar said members expect to be on the picket line at 317 Lenox Avenue, the location of the Harlem office, and would welcome community support.
“We don’t want to have to walk away from our work, our clients, or the services we provide,” Bhaskar said. “So our hope and goal is to reach a contract this week. If we do not reach a contract this week, we will be on the picket line, and we’re definitely welcoming folks to join us there and support us.”
