Tenant attorneys and legal service workers secure contract, avoid strike
- Unionized staffers at Legal Services NYC scored raises and back pay
- LSNYC will use the pay increase to help retain and recruit staff
Unionized workers rallied outside of Legal Services NYC’s Manhattan office at 40 Worth St. in February amid contract negotiations.
Brick Underground/Celia Young
Unionized attorneys and staff at Legal Services NYC, one of the major New York City legal aid providers, voted on Friday to accept a new contract with their employer. The vote avoids a strike that could have impacted thousands of New York tenants city-wide.
The attorneys, who represent low-income tenants through NYC’s right to counsel program, had spent the last month picketing outside of courthouses and marching in front of LSNYC’s Manhattan office in an attempt to pressure management into a better deal.
For the most part, that campaign worked, said Corinthia Carter, president of Legal Services Staff Association (LSSA 2320). Roughly 84 percent of union members voted in favor of the new contract, which runs from July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2027, and includes back pay.
"It’s a historic contract," Carter told Brick Underground. "Members that have been here for 20 and 30 years said they've never seen a salary package of this size."
Higher pay, especially for young lawyers
The union had hoped to secure a $62,000 salary floor for all LSNYC workers, including receptionists and other support staff. All salaries will reach that baseline in the third year of the contract, in July of 2026, according to LSNYC. (The union’s lowest paid member currently pulls in around $53,000 per year, Carter previously told Brick Underground.)
LSSA 2320 also secured a roughly 11 percent raise for junior attorneys in the first year. Higher pay should allow attorneys the security to better represent their clients, said Nicole Salk, a union member and senior staff attorney at Brooklyn Legal Services.
Plus, higher pay should help retain staffers, said Shervon Small, executive director of Legal Services NYC.
“This agreement also strengthens LSNYC's ability to offer competitive salaries, helping us attract and retain the talent needed to serve our clients effectively,” Small said in a statement. “With this contract in place, we will continue to do what we do best, provide high-quality legal help to New Yorkers in need."
LSSA 2320 scored a few other wins, including more time for staffers to grieve after experiencing a loss and a promise from LSNYC to look into remote work options for staffers, Carter said. The contract should also protect members from potential layoffs, as federal cuts to one of LSNYC’s top funders, the Legal Services Corporation, loom large.
“We were mindful of the current political climate and wanted to protect people from potential layoffs,” Carter said. “The way we see the government attacking legal service providers that provide certain types of services is scary.”
