Attorneys Take To The Picket Line

// The summer of labor is more than just writers and actors. This week, lawyers, social workers, and paralegals at the Children’s Law Center (CLC) went on strike following two years of contract negotiations. The striking workers have characterized management’s proposed salary increases as “insulting” and “abysmal.” That proposed scale starts at $37,000 for support staff and tops out at $114,000 for attorneys with 25+ years of service.

Founded in 1997, Children’s Law Center is a nonprofit that works to defend children’s rights in the New York area, with offices in four of the five NYC boroughs. Unionized CLC workers — about 2/3 of the non-profit’s staff — are a chapter of UAW Local 2325, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. They began picketing in front of the organization’s Brooklyn office on Monday.

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In addition to the pay scale issue, striking workers also point to overwhelming caseloads as problematic. As reported by Law.com:

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Unionized CLC employees, which includes about two-thirds of the nonprofit’s total workforce, say that, in addition to salaries that are out of step with peer legal service providers, attorneys are also juggling massive caseloads that have been exacerbated by turnover at the organization, often causing children to have to meet with a rotating cast of attorneys.

“I’m the sixth attorney on some of my cases,” Laura Diewald, a staff attorney at CLC and a member of the bargaining committee that has been at the table with management, said. “Building rapport with families and with children, who in many cases have a lot of trauma and upheaval in their lives, is so much more difficult each time you ask them to meet and trust a new adult who you say is going to advocate for them.”

In a statement, Keith Little, CLC’s interim executive director, pointed to a number of points of agreement the two sides have made and said the organization is “committed to continuing its critical work in the legal representation of children in New York City.”

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“Our dedicated staff is known for achieving positive outcomes for thousands of kids each year and we are optimistic that we will reach an agreement that allows us to continue to provide that high level of service and advocacy,” Little’s statement reads. “We’ve reached tentative agreements on a number of important issues including paid time off, travel reimbursement, and technology resources. While we continue to finalize a fair and fiscally responsible salary scale, building off of the 5% salary increase given last year, we are also advocating for the state to increase funding to support CLC and make significant investments in institutional Attorney for Children providers.”

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].

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Children’s Law Center, Labor Strikes, Public Interest