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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jane Fox, Chair of Legal Aid Society Attorneys Union, on Legal Aid Society Contract Negotiations and Funding
3:55:02
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3 min
Jane Fox, representing the Legal Aid Society Attorneys Union, testifies about ongoing contract negotiations with Legal Aid Society management and the urgent need for increased funding to address the attrition crisis among public defenders. She emphasizes the importance of fair wages and benefits for retaining experienced staff and providing quality legal representation to working-class New Yorkers.
- The union is prepared to strike if negotiations don't improve, with their contract expiring in 32 days
- Fox requests an increase of at least $74 million in funding from the City Council to meet their demands
- She highlights the disparity in funding between public defense and law enforcement, citing NYPD settlements and overtime costs
Jane Fox
3:55:02
Is that working?
3:55:03
Okay, thank you.
3:55:04
Good afternoon.
3:55:06
My name is Jane Fox.
3:55:07
I'm the chair of the Legal Aid Society Attorneys Union.
3:55:11
I represent 1,100 attorneys out of the 3,400 legal service workers at the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.
3:55:19
We are UAW Local two thousand three twenty five, and I'm here to talk about the contract campaign that is happening right now at the Legal Aid Society.
3:55:27
We've been bargaining with the Legal Aid Society's management since March and have yet to receive any economic offers from them.
3:55:35
In fact, we found out this morning that earlier this week, they told our sister investigators unit that they will not have an economic offer until June 24.
3:55:46
Our contract expires in thirty two days on June 30.
3:55:51
Today, our members are walking on practice pickets across four boroughs, and this afternoon, we returned to the bargaining table for more negotiations.
3:56:00
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 better wages for the long term, and we do not intend to work on an expired contract.
3:56:15
In March, I testified about the attrition crisis that is decimating our ranks.
3:56:20
Our wages have not kept pace.
3:56:21
In fact, the salaries of New York City Public Defenders rank dead last among defenders in 14 major cities when adjusted for cost of living.
3:56:31
We make a sliver of what our union siblings at the federal defenders make.
3:56:35
We do not have a defined benefit pension, and we are not in the state retirement system.
3:56:41
And we are now also facing an attack on federal student loan relief programs that threaten to burn up our salary gains and destroy hiring and retention in legal services for decades to come.
3:56:53
Budgets are value statements.
3:56:55
Our clients, working class New Yorkers, deserve the absolute best legal representation.
3:57:02
They do not deserve less than any rich person in this city.
3:57:05
And if you'll permit me just to finish.
3:57:08
When you devalue us, you devalue the people we serve.
3:57:11
And if you continue underfunding us, we will see the attrition attrition crisis speed up.
3:57:17
Your constituents will be increasingly represented by less and less experienced attorneys with higher caseloads.
3:57:23
They will not get justice, and that is not accept an acceptable outcome to us, and it shouldn't be acceptable to you.
3:57:30
By our employer's estimate, this council needs to increase funding to the legal aid society by at least $74,000,000 to make sure our demands at the bargaining table are met.
3:57:40
And specifically, at Legal Aid, we are one union and our members are on the same salary scale regardless of which court they practice in or which contract they are paid on.
3:57:50
Public safety is more than just public defense, and that's why it's essential the city allocate commensurate increases in the adopted budget to housing and immigration contracts so our employer can meet our core economic demands to retain experienced staff and with increased salaries and provide a dignified path to retirement.
3:58:09
The money our communities need for experienced attorneys and robust public defense is a fraction compared to what this council and this city spends on law enforcement.
3:58:19
250,000,000 205,000,000 in 2024 for NYPD settlements, and as you heard earlier, an estimated $1,100,000,000 in NYPD overtime.
3:58:31
The funding we need is well within your reach.
3:58:34
You have the power to value your own communities by investing in us.
3:58:38
And if in if negotiations do not improve in the next month, we are prepared to withhold our labor and interrupt essential city services to win a fair contract.
3:58:48
We are fighting for us and for the working class New Yorkers who deserve nothing less than the best.
3:58:55
Thank you.