Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jane Fox, Chapter Chair of the Legal Aid Society Attorneys Chapter at Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys, UAW Local 2325
6:08:25
ยท
3 min
Jane Fox, representing UAW Local 2325, testifies about the challenges faced by legal services workers in New York City, including underfunding, attrition, and a workload crisis. She requests full funding for legal services in the FY 2026 budget to meet their union's bargaining demands.
- The union represents over 3,400 legal services workers across 30+ nonprofit organizations.
- Key demands include a $70,000 wage floor, 4.5% COLA, improved retirement benefits, and competitive salaries.
- The union has aligned contracts of 2,100 members to expire on 06/30/2025, preparing for a potential sector-wide strike.
Jane Fox
6:08:25
Alright, is that better?
6:08:26
Great, thank you.
6:08:28
Thank you to the committee for this opportunity to speak.
6:08:30
My name is Jane Fox.
6:08:32
I'm the chapter chair of the Legal Aid Society Attorneys Chapter at the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.
6:08:39
We are United Auto Workers Local two thousand three hundred and twenty five.
6:08:43
UAW two thousand three hundred and twenty five represents over 3,400 active and retired legal services workers in over 30 nonprofit organizations in New York City and beyond.
6:08:53
UAW twenty three twenty five members are attorneys, paralegals, social workers, investigators, and support staff.
6:09:00
We are the workers who guarantee community safety by making sure New Yorkers have access to justice in our courts and vital social services in our city.
6:09:09
While our members are an essential labor force, decades of underfunding has led to untenable working conditions.
6:09:15
We are facing an attrition and a workload crisis.
6:09:18
We are facing a student debt crisis.
6:09:20
Our salaries and retirement benefits have failed to keep pace with our counterparts in district attorneys, offices, and corporation counsel.
6:09:28
And this inequity in our funding speaks volumes about who is valued in the legal system.
6:09:33
When our wages stagnate, the legal services our clients receive are degraded.
6:09:40
Our members are dedicated to public service, and when we can no longer afford to stay, we go to jobs in the public sector that have better salaries and real pensions, such as the attorney general's office and office of court administration.
6:09:53
Positions requiring experience go unfilled, leaving those who remain overburdened with rising caseloads.
6:09:59
We lose talent and institutional knowledge.
6:10:01
Attempts to meaningfully fulfill fill senior positions have failed.
6:10:06
Our salaries are just too low, the cost of living in the city is too high.
6:10:10
In 2025, ALAA has fundamentally changed the terrain of legal services through our union organizing.
6:10:18
Now over 95% of legal services workers in New York City are UAW two thousand three hundred twenty five members.
6:10:25
And we will no longer accept a race to the bottom where austerity budgets reign at every bargaining table, we demand more.
6:10:32
And this year, we have aligned the contracts of over 2,100 of our union members across 12 chapters to expire on 06/30/2025 for a potential sector wide strike that could shut down city courts.
6:10:44
And while we are committed to bargaining in good faith with our employers, and while we do not want to strike, we are prepared to withhold our labor to win the future our members deserve.
6:10:54
I'll I'll finish quickly.
6:10:56
In fiscal year twenty six, we are asking the council to fully fund legal services so our employers can meet our core bargaining demands.
6:11:04
Together, we are bargaining to establish a living wage full floor of $70,000 for our entry level members.
6:11:10
We are bargaining to guarantee a minimum 4.5% COLA.
6:11:15
We are bargaining to ensure our retirement benefits match what public sector employees get in the state retirement system.
6:11:21
And finally, we are bargaining to increase salaries to keep pace with agencies such as the federal defenders and attorney general's office to retain our most experienced members.
6:11:31
Our members are not immune from the affordability crisis that has hit our city.
6:11:35
Austerity budgets and legal services hurt our union.
6:11:39
They hurt New Yorkers.
6:11:41
Settling fair contracts will provide stability to our members and ensure working class New Yorkers get the absolute best legal representation because they deserve nothing less.
6:11:51
Thank you.