Bronx public defenders strike drags into second week, with stalled negotiations slowing court operations
More than 300 members of UAW Local 2325 authorized a strike on July 27th, after contract negotiations stalled. The union says they have been working without a contract since June 30th.
More Stories
It's a trial on the sidewalk in Concourse Village, where hundreds of public defenders walked off the job nine days ago as they continue to fight for a new contract.
More than 300 members of UAW Local 2325 authorized a strike on July 27, after contract negotiations stalled. The union says they have been working without a contract since June 30.
Thursday marked their ninth day on the picket line as attorneys and staff marched with signs, megaphones and instruments outside the Bronx Defenders office building along East 161st and Courtlandt Avenue.
"We want to get back to our clients more than anything," said Samantha Espada, an attorney and union chapter hair for the Bronx Defenders.
Espada says they notified the Bronx Defenders management of their strike deadline a week before they formed the picket line.
"We did that a week in advance of when we actually planned to go on strike to once again give management more time to meet our demands and to reach a tentative agreement," said Espada.
On Wednesday, the union and management came to the bargaining table for the third time since the strike began. They closed a couple of hurdles but remain deadlocked over two major demands: a 3% cost of living adjustment and a hybrid work policy.
The Bronx Defenders says that after more than 14 hours of bargaining, a central issue of their contracts were resolved. Management says the union agreed to separate attorneys' and social workers' salaries and agreed to meet the union's proposed salary scale for administrative and support staff, boosted social worker salaries and preserved other benefits.
The defenders' latest offer includes matching the union's proposed $70,555 first-year salary for administrative and support staff with an increase of 6% across the scale, adding $1,000 to the social-worker scale, boosting the starting salary to $91,000, and expanding reprieve leave to every staff role. They also proposed preserving the union's student-loan assistance program and retirement benefits and increasing the annual-cost-of-living adjustment to 2% for 2028 and 3% in 2029.
The Bronx Defenders says the union rejected the offer.
“That position depends on the belief that BxD has more funding available than we have disclosed. We do not. We have been transparent throughout these negotiations about the funding available, and we cannot compromise the long-term stability of the organization and the critical services people across the Bronx depend on," said Juval Scott, executive director of The Bronx Defenders, in a statement.
As the standoff drags on, the fallout is being felt in the courtroom, where a high-profile trial that was set to begin last week was postponed due to a lack of legal representation.
"We need to find a solution, very fast. It's outrage now. It's too many it's happening to," said Pastor Cheryl Singletary, a victim advocate.
The Bronx Defenders handles roughly 20,000 cases a year from family, criminal and immigration court cases.
”What we're asking for is to help us make this work sustainable. This work is just way too difficult. And we're constantly overworked to be told that we can't get things like reprieve, leave or sabbatical or hybrid work policies," said Espada, "We want to make sure that we keep, really talented attorneys and really talented support staff and social workers to be able to do this work."
Another meeting date between the union and The Bronx Defenders has not yet been set.
