Harlem’s Neighborhood Defenders reach tentative agreement; Bronx Defenders still on picket line

A tentative agreement has been reached between Harlem’s Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS) Union and management. Workers at NDS offices in Harlem, Detroit, and Texas ended their work stoppage on August 4 and resumed meeting with legal clients. They received presentations about the proposed agreement that night.

“With a tentative agreement reached, we are excited to welcome members of the Union back to our New York, Detroit, and Texas offices to resume normal operations,” NDS management said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to our staff and supervisors for their enduring commitment to our mission, and we are ready to move forward together, fully focused on delivering the high-quality, holistic representation our clients count on every day.”

Union members said management made two major concessions that helped lead to the tentative agreement. There is now a proposal for a 3% annual increase in salary scales. Management initially proposed a 1% increase over several years, then shifted to 1% annually, but now they have agreed to a tentative deal for 3% each year.

The NDS Union also said they secured an improvement to the healthcare language in their current contract. They’ll continue to have no-cost healthcare, but where their existing contract states that if healthcare premiums increase by more than 10% in a year, there would be a discussion with management about sharing those costs, they’ve been able to raise that threshold to 20%. Now, premiums would have to rise above 20% within a year before the union would have to discuss cost-sharing with management.

As of August 6, the union had not yet scheduled a ratification vote. After the union presents the contract terms to its members at a meeting and in writing, members will be able to vote yes or no on its proposals.

Meanwhile, members of Bronx Defenders Union-UAW Local 2325 (BxD Union) say they are still bargaining with their management, after they became the city’s third public defense group to strike this month when they walked off the job on July 27. BxD claims there seems to be movement on some of the non-economic terms, but still no agreement on salary.

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