LSSA Testifies Before NY City Council Committee on the Justice System

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 […]

MFJ Shop Settles Union Contract

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. […]

LSSA Resolution in Support of Puerto Rico

October 6, 2017 The Delegates Assembly of the Legal Services Staff Association has issued the following resolution in support of Puerto Rico:  Whereas Puerto Rico has suffered from catastrophic Hurricane Maria leaving residents without food, water, and electricity, and which has destroyed or heavily damaged homes, roads, and much of the island’s infrastructure; and Whereas […]

LSSA Resolution Opposing Islamophobia

October 5, 2017 The Delegates Assembly of the Legal Services Staff Association has issued the following resolution opposing Islamophobia:  Whereas it is in the labor movement’s interest to unite to defend our members and all communities from all forms of racism, xenophobia, and other forms of division, as well as violations of civil liberties, unlawful […]

Letter Regarding DACA

The Delegates Assembly of the Legal Services Staff Association has sent the following letter to UAW International President Dennis Williams regarding DACA and the DREAM Act: October 4, 2017 Dear UAW President Dennis Williams, The Legal Services Staff Association, a unit of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW 2320, is a wall-to-wall union […]

An Evening of Radical History, Political Education, and Anti-Fascist Songs

September 8, 2017 An Evening of Radical History, Political Education, and Participatory Anti-Fascist Songs Sept 25th at 6pm, food and drink provided LSSA Office, 256 W. 38th St, 12th floor As the forces of right wing reaction gain confidence and seek to take back power in our nation, it is worth remembering that we as […]

Resolution in Support of Striking IBEW Local 3 Families

August 4, 2017 The Legal Services Staff Association has issued the following resolution in support of striking IBEW Local 3 Families: WHEREAS, in 2013, IBEW Local 3 reached an agreement with Time Warner Cable that was ratified and expired in April, 2017. The union has been working under an expired agreement and accused TWC and […]

LSNYC Contract Demands Ratified

July 21, 2017 By a vote of 115 for and 11 against, our LSNYC union members last night ratified the contract demands that we’ll be making on LSNYC management. Once the amendments that were made at the meeting are incorporated into the final version, we’ll serve it on management and send all union members a […]

UAW Honors Our Historic 1991 Strike

July 21, 2017 It was 26 years ago this week that our colleagues and predecessors settled a four month strike, winning historic step increases and dramatically improving the pay parity between attorneys and legal workers. Our national union, the United Auto Workers, has posted the below memory of our 1991 strike: On July 19, 1991, […]

Union Baseball Hats are Here

June 9, 2017   We now have union baseball hats to go along with our warm winter hats, so you can rock your union pride in the summer AND the winter. Delegates can pick up a batch for your office at our next Delegates Assembly meeting, if not before.

LSSA Stands in Support of Representation for Immigrants Facing Deportation

May 11, 2017 Union treasurer Jay Ackley (in red) represented our union at today’s press conference with the Legal Aid Society’s union in support of maintaining City funding to provide lawyers on behalf of all New Yorkers facing deportation. The Mayor is proposing to exclude immigrants with certain criminal convictions from receiving this due process […]

LSSA Opposes ICE in the Courts

April 28, 2017 We were proud to be able to sign on to a letter opposing the presence of ICE (Immigration) in the courthouses. When immigration officials use court dates to try to arrest immigrants, both documented and undocumented, it creates fear and prevents individuals from seeking orders of protection against abusers or appearing for […]

Introducing our New Mentorship Program

February 24, 2017 Are you new to the union, and looking to learn more about the union and your rights? Or thinking about becoming more involved? Or maybe you’re a delegate, and want to increase your skills. We can match you up with a mentor! Have you been in the union for a while? Maybe you’ve […]

UAW Hosts Mayoral Forum

February 3, 2017 It was a packed house at the union office when UAW Region 9A hosted Bill de Blasio this week. Union president Sonja Shield asked the Mayor to help LSNYC get paid more quickly on its city grants, and he promised to help fix the problem. LSNYC has been struggling with slow payments […]

LSSA Members Attend the Women’s March in DC

January 27, 2017 LSSA members were among the over 200,000 people who attended the Women’s March protest in Washington DC the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated. Simultaneous protests took place around the world.

The Legal Services Staff Association in 2016

As a union, we work to support issues that affect our clients, communities, and fellow working people. This year our delegates assembly voted on political priorities — racial justice, workers rights and economic justice, anti-displacement and neighborhood preservation, and LGBTQ justice — to guide our political efforts now and in the future. Among other initiatives this year, we started […]

LSNYC Members Select Bargaining Team

January 5, 2017 It is time for us to negotiate our next union contract with Legal Services NYC. In preparation, we have sought nominations from each shop of union members who are interested in serving on the bargaining team. This week, our union’s Delegates Assembly considered the statements submitted by each nominee and from the […]

Our 2016 Holiday Party

December 23, 2016 We were thrilled to see so many members and your families dancing and celebrating together. Thank you for coming, and thank you to our party committee for making it happen!

Legal Aid & Legal Services Forum on the Future in a Trump Era

December 12, 2016 Along with the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, this week we hosted a forum to discuss the effect that Donald Trump’s election will have on organizations and employees that provide free civil and criminal legal services to New York City’s low-income residents. Our panelists discussed the likely effect that Trump and the […]

Delegate Training: Improving our Skills to Advocate for You

December 2, 2016 Twenty-four of our delegates are attending today’s full-day delegate training! We have a fantastic trainer with decades of experience working with the Teamsters union who is teaching us about grievances and how to enforce and fight for our rights as workers.

Fighting to Increase the Shelter Allowance for Poor New Yorkers

November 15, 2016 LSSA’s Bronx Legal Services members rallied with Assemblymember Hevesi and our Association of Legal Aid Attorneys – UAW 2325 comrades to support the Home Stability Support program which would increase the minimum public assistance shelter allowance, allowing more New Yorkers to stay in their homes.

Our Halloween Wonders

October 31, 2016 Our union members and our families pulled out all the stops this Halloween!

Union Softball Team Wins League Championship

August 12, 2016 LSSA’s softball team has again won the league championship! Thanks to Anthony Villanueva and Victor Brito for bringing our team to a resounding victory 7-2 on Wednesday, and for leading us all season. Highlights of the season included our July 1st game, where the LSSA Strikers jumped out to an early lead on […]

LSNYC Management Raises

July 1, 2016 LSNYC managers are in the process right now of receiving raises retroactive to January 1, 2016. The LSNYC Executive Director took the time to report to the union on how these raises were calculated. There has historically been significant disparities in manager compensation from office to office (and, to a lesser extent, […]