Final striking legal aid attorney union returns to work
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The Goddard Riverside Law Project reached a tentative agreement with their union that would provide members with wage increases but dissolve the law department after a year. Screenshot taken from Instagram/grlpunion
By Noah Powelson
The months-long saga of legal aid strikes came to its official end after the last striking union reached an agreement with their employer, but at an unexpected cost.
Goddard Riverside Law Projects reached a tentative agreement with their union on Sept. 19, ending a 10-week strike that kicked off an enormous legal aid labor movement. Goddard’s union announced the tentative agreement on social media, stating they earned increased wages and benefits for the next year, but that the law department would be dissolving at the end of their contract.
As part of the agreement, Goddard Riverside will be seeking to transfer their law department to a different nonprofit, ending a legal aid services program that began in 1981.
In a statement to the Eagle, Goddard Riverside’s president said the decision was made to balance the variety of nonprofit services they provide, not just legal services, and to keep equitable wage policies across the multitude of collective bargaining agreements the company has.
“I am pleased to announce that formerly striking Goddard Riverside Law Project employees are returning to work under a new tentative agreement,” president of Goddard Riverside, Roderick L. Jones, said in a statement. “During this time, ideally, we hope to reach an agreement with another nonprofit to take over the Law Project’s contracts and most, if not all, of its employees.”
A spokesperson for Goddard Riverside’s union confirmed a tentative agreement was made and some details of the deal. Members received a four percent salary increase as well as a $6,000 retention bonus. Members also received PTO expansions and new workplace protections.
"As disappointed as we are that Goddard Riverside's management has elected to terminate its involvement with the Law Project, we are extremely glad to put an agreement in place that allows us to serve our community and fairly compensate and protect our fellow workers as management works to determine next steps for the Law Project,” the spokesperson said.
How and where Goddard’s law department will transition next year is unclear. The first step will be if union members ratify the new contract after voting on it next week.
The new contract will last through June 30, 2026, if ratified by members.
The Goddard Riverside Law Project was the first of nine unionized legal aid organizations that threatened a massive strike that could have taken away over half of the city’s legal aid workers.
Over 400 legal aid workers represented by the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys went on strike last July after three public defender organizations let their contracts expire simultaneously, which included members of Goddard Riverside. By August, that number increased to roughly 750.
But one-by-one each legal aid union eventually ratified an agreement with their management, with each organization seeing varying success in getting better wages and benefits.
When the Legal Aid Society, which employs over 1,100 attorneys, ratified a new collective bargaining agreement before ever calling for a strike, the threat of a mass legal disruption all but ended.
Goddard Riverside’s union was the first and last on the picket line.
