March 8, 2019 Our union together with Legal Services NYC is forming a new joint labor-management committee to address the pervasive and systemic issues with training and support as well as evaluations of and feedback for staff of color. One committee member explains the need for this work: “Many of our union members, both attorney […]
UAW Region 9A 2019 New York State Political Platform Voting rights and electoral reform. New York must enact comprehensive voting reform to ensure that every eligible New Yorker is able to cast a vote and can vote more easily. We urge the Legislature to continue its monumental 2019 reform by making Election Day a state […]
We fought against Kavanaugh’s nomination, we sent a delegation of members to Texas to represent immigrants in detention, we won the softball league championships, we honored our 44 long-time members, we fought for justice for our clients and for our members, and more. See what we got up to in 2018 by watching our year […]
January 25, 2019 Yesterday the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee of Manhattan Legal Services, part of Legal Services NYC, presented Heroic Lawyering: a Report from the Border, a panel discussion at New York Law School featuring nine staff members who have represented families seeking asylum at the US’s Southern border following Trump’s escalated and […]
January 2019 Many of our union members have benefited from the $840/year reimbursement available through the UAW Education Fund for classes. Members have used this fund to take LSAT and bar exam classes, undergrad classes, language classes, and more. This fund is typically available only once a member is no longer on probation. However, because the LSNYC contract requires that social workers […]
December 14, 2018 After nearly nine months, the Bronx office has settled a grievance challenging the Bronx office’s overuse of combined lines, colloquially referred to as “split” or “slashed” titles, such as paralegal-slash-intake officer, or executive secretary-slash-intake officer. Although LSNYC CBA 14.3(E) states that “the combining of two lines will be done sparingly, and only […]
December 22, 2018 Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us at our union’s holiday party last night! It was wonderful to see our members and your partners, kids, and guests, and to see everyone mingling and enjoying themselves. A special thanks to everyone who helped set up or clean up, to those who helped […]
December 21, 2018 Our 12 member delegation has returned from a week in Texas representing women and children being held in immigration detention and preparing applicants for asylum for “credible fear” interviews. In the summer of 2018, Trump began brutally separating families at our southern border who were seeking asylum. Most were housed in sub-human conditions. Dilley, Texas, […]
December 10, 2018 Grievance of LSNYC’s Use of Temporary Agency Workers TO: Raun Rasmussen, LSNYC Executive Director From: Sonja Shield, Union President Date: December 10, 2018 This grievance is filed pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement Section 8.2(C), 3.4, 17.10(E) and any other applicable provision of the contract or labor law. This grievance […]
December 9, 2018 The Legal Services Staff Association today submitted comments opposing the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act “public charge” provision. Our submission included the following statement: The Legal Services Staff Association strongly oppose the proposed changes to the public charge rules. These proposed changes will cause uncertainty, inconsistency, and […]
December 7, 2018 Our union has developed a protocol to help address issues that from time to time arise between union members. Our protocol is intended to apply to all kinds of conflict, from interpersonal disagreements to harassment, discrimination, or workplace bullying. Please do not hesitate to ask your delegates for assistance with issues like […]
December 5, 2018 The Legal Services Staff Association, NOLSW/UAW 2320, is outraged and disappointed by New York City and State’s decision to give Amazon roughly $3 billion in incentives to locate one of its next centers in Long Island City. When cities allow a corporation to pit them against each other in a bidding war, […]
On Thursday, November 15, 2018, in the middle of the season’s first snowstorm, a coalition of unionized workers who represent and support tenants under the Universal Access Law testified at New York City’s Human Resources Administration’s Office of Civil Justice’s annual hearing on Universal Access to Counsel (UAC). Signed into law in July 2017, Universal Access […]
November 7, 2018 On November 6th, 2018, the Democrats flipped the US House, restoring some semblance of checks and balances to our country. Here in New York State, three formerly Republican-held House seats flipped blue – Max Rose in New York City, and Antonio Delgado and Anthony Brindisi upstate. All three of those districts had […]
October 5, 2018 The Legal Services Staff Association (LSSA), NOLSW/UAW 2320, along with the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA), UAW 2325, held simultaneous rallies in all five New York City boroughs on October 4, 2018, to protest the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. LSSA and ALAA members represent low-income New […]
We discovered that LSNYC management had, without knowledge or consent of our union, been offering “leaves of absence” to staff from their union position in order to go into management positions. Upon discovering this, we sent the below letter to the LSNYC Executive Director and all Project Directors putting LSNYC on notice that the union […]
September 30, 2018 The UAW has profiled our members who will be traveling to Dilley Texas in December to represent families being held in immigration detention. The article (link here) reads: When help is needed in local neighborhoods or across the country, UAW members don’t hesitate to step up. That couldn’t be more true for […]
September 14, 2018 Our union attended the Fordham Public Interest Legal Career Reception on September 13, 2018 and spoke with law students about the benefits of working at a unionized organization. Most had never considered whether an employer was unionized to be a factor in their job search, and were excited to learn what a positive […]
August 23, 2018 Following extensive discussion with union delegates and members at our Delegates Assembly and shop meetings, and a union-wide survey of all LSNYC union members, LSNYC union members have approved adding auto-enrollment and auto-escalation features to the LSNYC retirement plan. These features would mean that when someone is hired, if they don’t choose […]
July 13, 2018 The Legal Services Staff Association, a unit of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW 2320, is a wall-to-wall union of non-profit workers who provide free legal services to low-income New Yorkers. We see first-hand every day how President Trump’s attacks on immigrants are harming and terrorizing our immigrant clients and […]
June 27, 2018 The staff of Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A (“Brooklyn A) filed a petition on Wednesday June 27th with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) seeking a union election after Brooklyn A’s board and management failed to voluntarily recognize their employees’ decision to unionize. Brooklyn A is a Brooklyn-based not-for-profit organization that provides […]
March 20, 2018 The Legal Services Staff Association is pleased to announce the election of its new Executive Committee: Sonja Shield was re-elected as President. M’Ral Broodie-Stewart, an education law attorney in LSNYC’s Staten Island program, was elected as LSNYC Vice President. Meaghan Whyte, a housing attorney at Mobilization for Justice (MFJ), was elected as […]
The Legal Services Staff Association was honored to be able to present the following testimony on March 12, 2018 to the New York City Council’s Committee on the Justice System: Thank you, Councilmember Lancman and the members of the Committee on the Justice System, for allowing LSSA to testify about our work with the City […]
January 31, 2018 Members of the Legal Services Staff Association’s Mobilization for Justice (MFJ) shop today voted to ratify a new three year contract to run from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020. Members will receive 2% salary increases in each year of the contract, up from MFJ’s initial proposal of 1% each year. […]