🚨🚨BREAKING NEWS: WE WON!!🚨🚨
Yesterday, May 20, 2024, 72% of participating shop members voted to ratify management’s most recent contract offer and end the strike!
🧵More info about some of our victories in the thread below
NO CONTRACT, NO WORK! The unionized staff at
@MFJLegal
are on strike for the day. Management refuses to offer a contract which respects us or delivers real race equity. We deserve pay equity, a sensible remote work policy, & fair wage increases.
#MFJOnStrike
#1DayStrike
WE HAVE A CONTRACT! Unionized MFJ employees voted to ratify an unprecedented contract with
@MFJLegal
management. Please see our statement for more details (full text in the thread).
🎁🎁 - Happy Birthday, Elio! Here you are, hospitalized with leukemia, on the day
@MFJLegal
terminated your health insurance.
Shame on MFJ for risking your health to save money and gain leverage.
A 🧵- 1
What kind of “social justice” org hires scabs instead of paying their workers wages that keep up with inflation — after giving directors raises equivalent to an entire year’s salary for their lowest paid workers?
@MFJLegal
IT’S OFFICIAL! 96% of our union voted down management final offer. We are officially on strike! Please join us for our first picket Monday 2/26 at 9:30AM in front of 100 William Street to demand a fair contract!
#unionstrong
#mfjonstrike
#uaw
#lssa2320
📢📢 Announcement:
@NYCCouncil
Members Tell
@MFJLegal
: "We refuse to cross the picket line."
"If you do not end the strike by May 22, 2024, we will ask the relevant city and state agencies and authorities to stop contracting with MFJ or providing funding to MFJ in the future."
📢BREAKING: We Won A New Contract and Returned to Work After 13 Weeks on Strike! 📢
@MFJUnion
Celebrates Monumental Gains, Looks Ahead to Fight Inflation and Staff Attrition
Read more below 👇
Despite what
@MFJLegal
management seems to believe - New York City is a union town.
We are more than a month on strike today and we will keep fighting until management acts reasonably and offers a fair contract.
.
@MFJLegal
's management has brought this strike to our homes, so we are bringing it to theirs as well.
Over the past two weeks our union has conducted multiple home visits to management's executive leadership.
Last night we visited MFJ's ED, Tiffany Liston. 🧵
We’ve learned that
@MFJLegal
Executive Director Tiffany Liston told managers that the Union is having fun on strike — that we wanted this.
It wasn’t fun when MFJ took healthcare away from our member’s 3-year-old son while he was hospitalized with leukemia. 🧵- 2
📣📣DIRECT ACTION GETS THE GOODS!
This morning women from our shop led an occupation of the lobby at the building of Cleary Gottlieb's NYC office, where MFJ Board Chair Lisa Schweitzer works.
Our message is clear: No business as usual until we get a fair contract!
@MFJLegal
.🧵
We won a $60K floor for paralegals and support staff during this fight because we refused to back down, despite
@MFJLegal
's extremely bad faith approach to this strike.
There's more to come and we'll continue fighting.
@MFJLegal
should take a hint - New York is a labor town!
also:
@MFJLegal
has agreed to a $60K salary floor for non-lawyers, which has been a major demand of the union. But there are still substantial sticking points.
“The $60,000, finally engaging with us on that is very welcome,”
@BrendenRoss2
said
Our dream team in 2 places at once today: Albany fighting with
@housing4allNY
and NY City Hall fighting for a fair contract. Because the fight never stops ✊🏿✊🏻✊🏽
Good morning
@MFJLegal
Management!
We are outside the Manhattan office reminding you: 12 weeks on strike is 12 weeks too long!
Retaliating against workers’ for asserting their union rights and 3% wage hikes are unacceptable!
Rehire Rachel and Fair Raises now!
Specifically, this
@MFJLegal
has hired scabs.
Under the direction of Executive Director Tiffany Liston and the oversight of Board chair Lisa Schweitzer (
@ClearyGottlieb
).
"MFJ, a nonprofit that claims to be in support of social justice, has hired scabs! The management at MFJ is a disgrace, betraying the values they claim to hold dear. I know @
@MFJUnion
members are strong, that the community supports them & that they will win."
@ShawnFainUAW
Come on out and support our first week on the picket line!
Here’s the schedule; rain or shine!
We hope to see you there :) 🫵🪧
#picket
#unionstrong
#mfjonstrike
📢📢BREAKING: MFJ Union applauds former U.S. Attorney
@EricHolder
's Refusal to Cross Our Picket Line!
Holder said the following in a statement: "I will not...cross a picket line to attend the ceremony."
On 4/12 we announced a boycott of
@MFJLegal
's gala.
Full statement below.
📢🔥ANNOUNCEMENT: MFJ UNION CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF
@MFJLegal
2024 GALA 📢📢
“We are asking you to not support MFJ’s June 4 Gala or cross our picket line,” said
@LSSA2320
President Corinthia A. Carter. “Our 109 frontline staff have been out on strike for nearly eight weeks with
🐀 It wouldn’t be a MFJ Union picket without
@ScabbyTheRat
, and we wouldn’t have Scabby if not for
@UAW
Local 259 in
@UAWRegion9A
. Congrats on winning an amazing contract today, we hope to follow suit soon! Solidarity, friends! 🐀
Hi! We’re
@MFJUnion
- wall-to-wall legal services workers fighting tough battles every day alongside our clients.
Non-profits like ours are controlled by a board of directors. Meet
@MFJLegal
’s board + learn why we’re fighting to change our workplace and legal services in NYC 🧵
ADVISORY: Unionized Legal Workers Confront Strikebreakers Outside Mobilization for Justice Headquarters
Monday, March 25 at 9:30-10:30 am 100 William St, New York, NY 10038
Contact: mfjunioncomms
@gmail
.com
Dear
@MFJLegal
Management:
As we enter week 1️⃣2️⃣(!) of this strike, five MFJ employees explain how deeply the union has been affected by MFJ’s failure to bargain in good faith.
It's time for a fair contract now!
#faircontractnow
#unionpower
#union
#nyc
📣 📣Announcement: Our union has voted to authorize a boycott of
@MFJLegal
’s upcoming gala.
@EricHolder
is a scheduled honoree
Our strike is entering its 7th week.
We’re not yet calling a boycott but will quickly if
@MFJLegal
continues to prolong the strike.
Statement below:
📢🔥ANNOUNCEMENT: MFJ UNION CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF
@MFJLegal
2024 GALA 📢📢
“We are asking you to not support MFJ’s June 4 Gala or cross our picket line,” said
@LSSA2320
President Corinthia A. Carter. “Our 109 frontline staff have been out on strike for nearly eight weeks with
📢Press Release: Nonprofit Legal Workers Say:
@MFJLegal
is Trying to Bust Union by Hiring Strikebreakers!
Mobilization for Justice Management Escalates Union Busting Campaign to the Detriment of Clients as Strike Enters its Second Month.
Nonprofit Executives are all using the same playbook:
Insult staff with lowball offers.
Demoralize them by dragging out negotiations.
Divide them with made-up tiers.
This corporate bullsh*t has no place in so-called progressive orgs. We must band together to stop it now.
In bargaining, BxD so far has offered us 1. The lowest salary of any public defender office in NYC; 2. Cutting PTO, sick, and personal days; 3. Mandating in office days with the expectation that we avail ourselves to clients at all hours of the day, despite us having other work.
NEW: The support staff, paralegals, and attorneys of MFJ Union have voted with an overwhelming 96% in favor to authorize an ***indefinite strike***
@mfjlegal
beginning February 23rd if management’s final offer is rejected! 🚨🪧
@UAW
@UAWRegion9A
“Our clients need us. They depend on our services. And we want to go back to work, but unfortunately, we can't because management is obstructing us going back to work because they don't want to give us a fair contract" -
@raquelnamuche
.
@MFJLegal
Tenant Organizer (on strike).
Now going into week 6 because
@MFJLegal
management are apparently more willing to let MFJ clients receive bad or no services, and more open to allowing the organization to fall apart, than they are open to offering a fair contract.
We'll stay out as long as it takes.
📣📣MFJ Union Week 7 Press Release!
Unionized NYC Legal Workers Hold Longest Strike In Over Two Decades.
@MFJLegal
Management Makes No Significant Movement on Contract Offer While Frontline Workers Enter Seventh Week of Strike During Historic Homelessness Crisis. 🧵
📣 📣This morning we are at
@MFJLegal
’s Board executive committee member David Keyko’s home.
Good morning David! We need a fair contract now.
David was supposed to lead an expensive legal training this morning but it was made remote at the last minute. So we came to him!
📣SOLIDARITY ACTION REQUEST!📣
Chair of
@MFJLegal
's Board of Directors, Lisa Schweitzer (
@ClearyGottlieb
) has oversight over MFJ management's decisions.
Can you POLITELY contact Lisa & tell MFJ not to use scabs & to bargain in good faith?
Contact info:
This is why we strike. Management wants the ability to unilaterally change our healthcare. They want us to “trust” them — but they can’t be trusted to care.
So we say no cutbacks, no givebacks. Not now, not ever.
🧵- 8/end
📣On Friday our union Comms Team sent
@MFJLegal
- including the board and all managers, from middle management to executives - an open letter.
We explained our demands & strike highlights.
We'll keep fighting until we win the fair contract our clients & our union deserve.
"We’ve been on strike for almost 8 weeks now & they’re not bargaining in good faith,” said Wendy Grullon... a paralegal in MFJ’s Bronx office since 2019... “right now the salary I make is not a living wage for the current economic situation in NYC"
🐀 🚨 Join us tomorrow morning at 9:30 am 100 William Street downtown NYC to protest
@mfjlegal
hiring SCAB LABOR rather than negotiating a fair contract with its hardworking staff
“Dignified wages to live in the most expensive city in the world is not a ridiculous ask.” That’s right
@CarmenForNYC
! THANK YOU for supporting us on the picket line at 100 William Street today!!
📣📣WE ARE NOW IN WEEK 8 OF STRIKE FROM
@MFJLegal
. HERE'S THE SCHEDULE! 📣📣
Please join us tomorrow (4/16) and Thursday (4/18) for pickets!
Details for the 4/15 and 4/17 pickets aren't public. We are increasing the pressure and who doesn't like surprises?
Solidarity forever!
Today we are picketing in front of the house of Anu Garfield,
@MFJLegal
’s Director of Compliance and General Counsel.
Garfield is part of management’s bargaining team. We’re here to tell her: we deserve a fair contract!
👀HAPPENING NOW:
@MFJUnion
members testify before
@NYCCouncil
about how
@MFJLegal
, despite collecting millions in
@NYCHRA
contracts, refuses to deliver a fair contract to its unionized staff, which has kept its frontline workers out on strike for over 70 days.
We are fighting to keep our healthcare as a union, because
@MFJLegal
management clearly refuses to prioritize the needs of its workers and our families.
Elio is doing great now (here he is!), largely because his parents had savings to get COBRA quickly. 🧵- 6
📣📣 Join us this afternoon in front of Bronx Housing Court to demand a fair contract from
@MFJLegal
!
We are being joined by
@JamaalBowmanNY
!
In the 🌧️ or in the ❄️ they say 'givebacks!' and we say 'NO!'
📣 📣 Our Week 7 picket schedule 📣 📣
During the worst crisis of homelessness in modern NYC history,
@MFJLegal
ED has kept our union on strike for 7 weeks!
The longest NYC legal service worker strike in more than two decades.
Our clients and MFJ staff deserve better.
‼️WHEN I SAY UNION, YOU SAY POWER‼️
One of our demands is that our wages match inflation and allow us to pay for basic life necessities. Not a controversial take.
@MFJLegal
has the money. They give themselves plenty of raises, including retro raises *during* our strike.
WEEK 2 RECAP - Where’s Management?
PICKETS - We had 4 pickets, one at each of our offices (BX and Manhattan) and at 2 housing court locations (BX and Manhattan)
* Our picket on Thursday 3/7 outside the Manhattan office was a big day for us!
🧵 FIRST WEEK OF PICKET RECAP
We had two pickets at our Manhattan Office and two at our Bronx Office.
We had large turnouts, with other unionized staff members from LSNY, TRJ, ALAA, and others all coming out to support us on the picket line!
🚨FRIDAY APRIL 26 1-3pm: big rally and picket outside MFJ’s Manhattan offices at 100 William St. commemorating 60 DAYS ON STRIKE. Featuring
@RudeMechanicalO
and other special guests. Join us!
🎺🎺PLEASE JOIN US TOMORROW FOR A PICKET!
12:30 to 2:30 at 100 William St in downtown Manhattan, the offices of
@MFJLegal
.
(Not listed in the below graphic but is definitely on and we need you there!)
In Elio’s case, there was a real-time lapse in coverage, and he almost missed out on a critical medicine as a result. His parents are also now appealing a denial for services based on lack of coverage. 🧵- 5
Today’s speaker was Vinny Alvarez, the first Latino President of
@CentralLaborNYC
Mr. Alvarez spoke to our shop about the importance of unions and labor organizing in NYC.
#unionstrong
#mfjonstrike
Earlier this week a short story on our strike was featured on News 12!
@MFJLegal
's management continues to embarrass and harm the organization by trying to break workers refusing healthcare givebacks and demanding fairness for MFJ's most vulnerable workers.
Fair contract now!
Within hours of our strike MFJ management cut our members’ health insurance, without regard to what would happen to any of us.
They did not need to do that.
It was a cruel and calculated choice. 🧵- 4
We voted to strike yesterday evening and the non-profit that cares so much about "social justice" didn't even wait to Monday to cut our health insurance benefits.
@MFJUnion
60 DAY STRIKE-A-VERSARY📢✊
This week (Tuesday-Thursday) we have three shop-member only actions which is why we aren’t posting a schedule for Week 9.
Our big picket is this coming Friday, all are welcome as we commemorate 60 days since the strike began.
As our bargaining team heads back to the table, we'd like to formally introduce you to this outstanding crew.
Brenden, Ella, Amanda, Jaynor, and Liz!
Show them some love!
But
@MFJLegal
management never inquired about that to begin with. In fact, MFJ was completely unprepared for the moment of termination, forcing Elio's parents to scramble to get basic information to expedite their COBRA payment. 🧵- 7
Thanks to
@UAWRegion9A
for highlighting our fight in yesterday's newsletter!
Lots of developments as we move into the 7th week of the longest legal service worker strike in NYC in more than two decades.
More to come!
For almost a month, NYLAG management has made it their mission to harass and intimidate workers for their pro-Palestine speech in our office and our membership has now said ENOUGH! 🧵
.
@MFJLegal
needs to end this strike.
It won't be difficult to do so - just offer a fair contract to the workers who actually know how to represent clients and fight for them.
📣📣FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
@NYCComptroller
to Probe
@MFJLegal
for Contract Compliance During Nearly 3 month Strike That Management Has Needlessly Prolonged
➡️Rally tomorrow at 100 William St (MFJ Manhattan Office) 9:30AM!
Full Release Below!
While we're on strike, middle & senior managers have taken over casework.
In recent weeks we began a strike-focused CourtWatch in Bronx and Manhattan housing courts to observe and to remind
@MFJLegal
middle management: Our clients deserve better and we deserve a fair contract.
Solidarity with our
@BxDUnion
siblings!
@BronxDefenders
management: the choice is yours. Offer a fair contract in the coming weeks or force your staff and clients the unnecessary hardship of going on strike.
📢Press Release: The Bronx Defenders Union Announces Unlimited Unfair Labor Practice Strike Beginning Week of July 22, 2024 📢
🔗 Read the press release in full at
📷:
@MichaelLetwin
📣📣Today we will be testifying at the
@NYCCouncil
Executive Budget hearings on DSS.
➡️We urge all CM’s to demand HRA cease any participation in helping
@MFJLegal
break the strike.
➡️We urge all CM’s to inform MFJ that funds will be withheld if management prolongs the strike.
WEEK 3 RECAP: WHERE’S MANAGEMENT🧐⁉️
🪧We had 3 successful pickets last week, 1 at our offices in Manhattan & the Bronx & outside of BK Housing Court. Scabby made appearances & we had lots of community support from fellow legal services workers, clients, & community members!
🧵ICYMI: last week, we sent an open letter to the
@MFJLegal
Board and every non-union MFJ employee. It explains why our Union has still been on strike for over 60 days, highlights press coverage, and details the overwhelming support we've received from public officials. /1
📣On Friday our union Comms Team sent
@MFJLegal
- including the board and all managers, from middle management to executives - an open letter.
We explained our demands & strike highlights.
We'll keep fighting until we win the fair contract our clients & our union deserve.
If you are an attorney working while
@MFJUnion
is on strike keep in mind people remember. If you arw desperate for job reach out and explore alternatives that do not involve crossing picket lines/being a replacement worker.