(NEW YORK CITY) – Seeking to strengthen high-quality free legal services for New Yorkers and fight high turnover, Union Members of Mobilization for Justice (MFJ), a Non-Profit Legal Services Organization, hit a historic landmark last week as their Strike entered its seventh week.

The Strike is the longest legal services walk-out in New York City history since 2003, when Unionized MFJ Staffers held a nine-week long Strike.

The Union is fighting for a fair and dignified contract to maintain its quality of free legal services to New Yorkers by addressing MFJ’s unprecedented Staff attrition rate.

The Strike has garnered support from State and National Elected Officials, such as U.S. Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who joined the picket line last week.

Labor Leaders have also joined the Strikers in their demands that MFJ offer a fair contract.

In a rally in North Carolina last week, United Auto Workers (UAW) International President Shawn Fain issued a stern rebuke against MFJ Management’s Union Busting: “Management at MFJ is a disgrace and they are betraying the values that they claim to hold dear.  But I know one thing: Our Members are strong, that the community’s behind them, and that they are going to win!”

In 2003, Mobilization for Justice (then known as MFY Legal Services) Staffers struck for nine weeks when Management offered a contract which would eliminate spousal/partner health coverage.

Chaumtoli Huq, an Associate Professor at City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and former MFJ Staff Attorney, was part of the 2003 Strike.

Professor Huq said the proposed health care cuts would have disproportionately affected lower-paid BIPOC Workers: “I was pregnant with my son during the 2003 Strike.  Cutting my spousal health care would have meant that I would have had to pay more out-of-pocket expenses for family care.  Legal Services Workers should have a right to support our loved ones, especially when we make so little money.”

Professor Huq said she “absolutely” supports the ongoing Strike and Union Members’ demands for a fair contract: “MFJ’s corporate board has forgotten an important lesson from the 2003 Strike - you cannot strip Front Line Workers’ health care benefits and pay and expect them to take it without a fight.”

The current Strike comes in the context of the worst homelessness crisis in modern New York City History, increasing evictions of poor and Working Class tenants, and the unprecedented need for legal services for Immigrants given recent waves of mass migration of asylum-seekers and refugees.

Striking Workers from MFJ include Attorneys, Paralegals and Social Workers who advocate and represent these individuals in courts and in front of City, State and Federal Agencies every day when working.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: Unionized NYC Legal Workers Hold Longest Strike in Over Two Decades - UAW | United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America

Photo Courtesy Of The UAW.