Bronx Defenders call off strike as tentative agreement is made

The Bronx Defenders union reached a tentative agreement with their employer after members went on strike over the weekend. Screenshot via ALAA/X

By Noah Powelson

As the threat of a mass public defender strike continues to loom over the city, one of the largest union shops already on strike struck a tentative deal with their employer on Sunday.

The Bronx Defenders’ attorney union, the second-largest legal services shop that joined the growing public defender strike last week, reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the public defense firm over the weekend.

The Bronx Defenders’ union went on strike on Friday, July 18, but by the evening on Sunday, their employers had accepted their most recent counteroffer and the strike was called off.

The contract isn’t official – union members will still need to vote to ratify the agreement. But as of this paper’s publication, Bronx Defender employees were back at work. No vote is scheduled, but union representatives said they are hoping one will be set within the coming days.

“The union has informed us that in response to our latest offer, the strike has been called off, pending a formal vote by all union members,” Juval O. Scott, the executive director of the Bronx Defenders said in a statement on Monday. “The Bronx Defenders’ mission is to provide the highest quality legal representation to people living in one of the most policed, surveilled, and under-invested counties anywhere in the country. As public defenders, this work is more than a profession – it is a calling. And valuing the work of those who serve that calling is imperative if we are to continue to meet our obligation to zealously represent the people and families of the Bronx.”

The agreement comes as six legal aid organizations enter the second and third weeks of their own strikes. And Bronx Defenders’ agreement may impact bargaining at the other organizations.

The new agreement between Bronx Defenders and their union included concessions that multiple public defender unions on strike are demanding, including a higher wage floor for attorney and non-attorney staff.

According to the union, the tentative agreement included a $68,500 wage floor, raises for attorneys and social workers, as well as longevity differentials of $4,000 for attorney/social worker staff and $3,000 for all non-attorney staff after they worked at the company for a number of years.

“[Bronx Defenders] union members are now back at work, defending indigent, working class New Yorkers throughout and beyond the Bronx after successfully advocating for fair wages that put us on a path to reducing attrition and ensuring every single staff member at BxD earns a living wage,” a union spokesperson said in a statement. “With this historic increase in compensation for Investigators, Advocates, and Administrator staff, we are proud to have set the standard for fair wages for all IAA workers across the legal services sector in New York City.”

The Bronx Defenders union was one of the largest unions to go on strike the past month after contracts between nine city public defender organizations and their unions expired at the beginning of July. Roughly 750 legal aid workers were on strike on July 18 – Bronx Defenders brought 260 of their own to that number.

While the deal cuts back the number of striking attorneys, the city’s largest public defender organization still threatens to double it.

The attorney’s union at the Legal Aid Society had terminated their collective bargaining agreement and set a strike deadline for Friday, July 25. If LAS attorneys go on strike, they’d bring 1,100 members with them and begin the largest mass public defender strike in 30 years.

Unions for the organizations, all of which are chapters of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys – UAW Local 2325, have said the low wages and lack of cost-of-living-adjustments have led to severe attrition problems as attorneys and staff struggle to live in the most expensive city in the country. While pay and benefits vary per organization, most unions have demanded a $70,000 wage floor for all employees and a cost-of-living-adjustment higher than 3 percent to keep up with inflation.

Of the nine city legal aid organizations that announced strike deadlines in July, Bronx Defenders is the second union to reach a tentative agreement with their employers.

On July 18, Appellate Advocates reached their own agreement with the union the night before the strike deadline was set to go into effect. As of Monday, Appellate Advocate employees were working but a vote on the agreement had yet to be held.

For the unions still on strike, Bronx Defenders and Appellate Advocates success is seen as a victory for all on the picket line. Union representatives said Bronx Defenders’ employees earning a $68,000 wage floor puts pressure on other employers who said such demands are not affordable.

The New York Legal Advocacy Group is the current largest unionized legal aid organization on strike, and one of their core demands is a $70,000 wage floor. NYLAG union spokesperson Razruz Baum told the Eagle that Bronx Defenders getting a wage floor so close their own demands validates the union’s work, and tells both members and management such demands are feasible.

"It's incredible, it shows these demands are winnable and puts a lot of pressure on management," Baum told the Eagle.

But just how much the Bronx Defenders’ agreement impacts the potential for Legal Aid Society attorneys to go on strike remains to be seen.

Baum told the Eagle he and his members weren’t worried that a big shop had come off the picket line and said that worker solidarity between the union shops was strong and the members were committed to not undermine each other by taking striking workers’ cases.

“Overall, it’s definitely a positive thing and setting a new standard,” Baum said about Bronx Defenders’ early contract agreement. “Bronx Defender members are even picketing with NYLAG now that they don’t have to picket for their own.”