June 15, 2018 The staff of Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A (“Brooklyn A”) met with members of Brooklyn A’s management the morning of June 15, 2018 to formally demand union recognition. Brooklyn A is a Brooklyn-based not-for-profit organization providing free legal services in the areas of housing, foreclosure defense, bankruptcy, and community economic development. For […]
February 13, 2018 The 400+ members of the Legal Services Staff Association (LSSA) working at Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) voted on February 13, 2018 to ratify a new union contract. The contract is retroactive to July 1, 2017 and will run for three years. Union and management negotiated salary increases of 3% retroactive to July […]
September 2, 2017 Our union is proud to have acted in solidarity with Teamsters Local 814, which represents about 40 drivers, helpers, and warehouse workers who were locked out on July 5th and replaced with cheap subcontractors after Waldner’s refused to negotiate a new contract for months. Local 814 members have since been picketing Waldner’s clients, […]
August 14, 2017 The terrorism that came to the streets of Charlottesville this weekend was sickening and grotesque. The racism and violence slung proudly by white nationalists and Nazis should have no place here. Yet we know what happened in Charlottesville was not an isolated incident. The racists who stalked and killed black people during […]
November 10, 2016 As union members who have dedicated our careers to providing free legal services to low-income New Yorkers, we are devastated by the election of Donald Trump, a man whose open hostility toward immigrants, racial minorities, and women make him singularly unqualified to be President. He poses a unique threat to our country, […]
February 19, 2016 Our union traveled to New Hampshire to participate in the UAW’s New Hampshire Primary Educational Program. We were there with almost 70 other UAW members from Region 9A of the UAW, which covers eastern New York, New England, and Puerto Rico. Our union has members who work at Foxwoods Casino, build giant […]
January 14, 2016 The Legal Services Staff Association, UAW/NOLSW 2320, is a union of progressive workers. We represent the non-management employees of Legal Services NYC and MFY, two New York City nonprofits that provide free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers. As workers, we help secure New York City as a vibrant and diverse […]
August 30, 2015 Members of the Legal Services Staff Association (LSSA) are pleased to announce that Sonja Shield, a longtime member of the union, has been elected as President of the unit. Today marks Sonja’s first full day in office. Sonja takes the reins from Amy Hammersmith, who was elected President in the fall of […]
June 26, 2015 Legal Services NYC (“LSNYC”), the largest provider of free civil legal services to low-income people in the United States, and the Legal Services Staff Association (LSSA/UAW 2320), representing employees of LSNYC and of MFY Legal Services, celebrate the Supreme Court’s historic decision establishing marriage equality as the law of the land. Marriage, […]
After a tremendous show of solidarity, and several weeks of record-breaking cold, on February 24th the union members of MFY ratified the tentative agreement reached with management late in the night of February 23rd. We thank everyone for their support. We won a contract that ensures our clients will be served by experienced staff, that […]
This update responds to a letter by MFY Legal Services’ (“MFY”) Executive Director, Jeanette Zelhof, addressed to the New York Law Journal (the “NYLJ”) and distributed by MFY to a listserv for New York tenant advocates on February 20, 2015. While professing respect for MFY’s unionized staff, Zelhof dismisses the concerns that led us to strike […]
Over 100 MFY strikers and supporters braved tonight’s bone-chilling temperatures to demand that MFY’s management sit down and negotiate a fair contract. [youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_khVm7pIYA” width=”400″ height=”240″] The unionized staff of MFY and LSSA 2320 are greatly grateful to all of you who shivered with us in solidarity and made tonight a success. Thanks, in alphabetical […]
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Se ve, se siente – la unión esta presente!
Dear allies: please see our update on the MFY Strike below. [scribd id=254972124 key=key-cRC7FZJMdcxCRexDuJlB mode=scroll]
The unionized staff of MFY Legal Services wishes to express their heartfelt gratitude to the following elected representatives, legal community allies, labor community allies, musical ruckus-causing community allies, and, of course, family and friends, for braving the polar temperatures yesterday night to lend us your solidarity in our fight for a fair contract. State Senator […]
Employees Demand Equity for Lowest Paid Workers, Parental Leave, and a Fair Contract That Will Ensure Quality Legal Services for Low-Income New Yorkers January 30, 2015, New York, NY – Today the unionized employees of MFY Legal Services, Inc. (MFY) rejected management’s contract proposal and declared a strike. The 56 attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, and other professionals […]
January 14, 2015 The Legal Services Staff Association bargaining team for the Legal Services NYC union staff addressed the Legal Services NYC Board of Directors two days before the deadline for a contract offer. LSSA President Amy Hammersmith addressed the union’s demand for fair wages that compensate members for the lack of raises in the […]
Repeating its missteps from the 2013 strike, LSNYC has again threatened to terminate its employees’ health insurance if we go on strike on January 30th. In response, the following letter was delivered on January 12th to LSNYC management’s bargaining team. Dear Raun, On Friday, you informed us that you intend to terminate terminate union members’ health […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Amy Hammersmith, LSSA President: 215-285-8305, lssa2320president@gmail.com Anamaria Segura, LSSA MFY Vice President: 718-514-1680, anamaria1231@gmail.com MFY Legal Services Staff Declare One-Day Strike in Protest NEW YORK, NY, JANUARY 12, 2015—The unionized staff of MFY Legal Services, Inc. have declared a one-day strike in protest of management’s disrespectful and shortsighted contract bargaining demands. […]
January 11, 2015 The union staff of MFY are calling for contract that ensures the quality legal services our clients deserve and provides for a diverse, family-friendly workplace. MFY management says they want the same, but let’s take a look at what they’re really offering. WHAT THEY SAY: “MFY Ends Year of Record Growth and […]
December 11, 2014 The Legal Services Staff Association (“LSSA”) shares the disappointment and outrage felt by the family of Eric Garner, other advocates and organizations, and communities across the nation regarding the failure of the District Attorney in Staten Island to obtain an indictment for the killing of Eric Garner by officers of the NYPD. […]
December 10, 2014 The union’s Executive Committee has written to the Board of Legal Services NYC to convey the union’s disappointment with LSNYC’s upper level management for needlessly forcing the union out on strike in 2013, and then losing $1.27 million dollars in federal Legal Services Corporation funding as a result. The union is calling […]
Legal Services NYC pushed over 200 of our union members out on strike in the summer of 2013. LSNYC pled poverty. We agreed to come back to work without cost of living increases. Management was all, score! Turns out they had almost 6 million extra sitting in the bank, unspent. LSNYC “found” the money in […]