Attorneys and social workers vote to unionize Queens public defender agency
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Attorneys and social workers at Queens Defenders voted to join the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, seen here protesting ICE courthouse arrests in 2019. Photo courtesy of ALAa
By David Brand
Attorneys and social workers at a Queens-based public defender agency announced their plan to unionize Wednesday, becoming the latest New York City indigent defense group to organize under the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys.
Roughly 70 staffers from the Queens Defenders are now calling on management to voluntarily recognize their union after filing an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board. That recognition would prevent a lengthy legal process, they say.
Staff at three of New York City’s five other public defender organizations — The Legal Aid Society, Bronx Defenders and Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem — have already joined ALAA-UAW Local 2325, as have employees at a number of other Metropolitan-area nonprofit legal groups.
“A lot of offices have unionized and we were becoming one of the outliers,” said Queens Defender staff attorney Christopher Van Zele. “This helps us negotiate with the city for fair pay and reasonable caseloads and to be able to represent our clients better.”
Van Zele said the union will also negotiate a contract with Queens Defenders management. Their additional goals include more organizational transparency and diversity in hiring and management, members said in a statement. The agency was known as the Queens Law Associates until Jan. 1.
Queens Defenders social worker Emily Duran said 90 percent of qualifying staff members voted to join the union after months of organizing.
“We’re really a progressive organization that has fully embraced this holistic model of defense practice and unionizing is a natural next step for us,” she said.
In recent months, the Queens Defenders have challenged injustices beyond the confines of individual courtrooms, opening a social service outpost in Far Rockaway and demonstrating for racial equity. They also criticized the Office of Court Administration’s decision to resume in-person criminal proceedings that they say expose attorneys and their predominantly poor clients of color to the coronavirus.
But one person who has worked for the agency and asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal said staff members are also fighting internal battles with their own management.
The union drive was motivated in part by workplace safety concerns, changes to staff benefits packages and too few mechanisms for reporting problems, the individual said.
When asked about those complaints, Duran, a leader in the unionization effort, said staff members were most concerned about ensuring their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic and uniting with other public defender groups.
“I don’t think there’s any particular challenge we were thinking of in terms of a benefits package, but in general we want the opportunity to have some type of influence in policy and decision-making processes in the office,” Duran said.
Duran and her colleagues are urging Queens Defenders Executive Director Lori Zeno and management to recognize the new union.
Since July, Zeno has been an outspoken critic of courthouse conditions that she says fuel the spread of COVID-19 among her staff and clients. She has frequently hammered OCA for resuming in-person proceedings and she criticized the Queens District Attorney’s Office when an intern tested positive for COVID-19 after sitting in on proceedings, forcing at least five Queens Defenders attorneys to self-quarantine.
Zeno did not respond to multiple phone calls and messages seeking comment for this story.
In June, another public defender agency, the Bronx Defenders, recognized its new staff union.
Over the past two years, the ALAA has fought for public defender pay raises from the city and has worked to limit court appearances for attorneys and clients in criminal court during the pandemic.
ALAA organizer Alexi Shalom said unionizing will strengthen the position of Queens Defenders attorneys and staff in negotiations with the city, the court system and their own supervisors.
“The goal is to preserve health and safety at this time — better working conditions, fair representation and a higher standard of representation,” Shalom said.
“It’s the first time in 25 years that a majority of public defender organizations are union so it’s historic.”
