Dozens of NY Elected Officials Sign Letters in Support of Striking UAW Legal Services

Full letter to CAMBA leadership led by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. 

Full letter to Goddard leadership led by Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal. 

 

NEW YORK— Approximately 1,850 of the 2,000 legal services workers represented by the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys—UAW Local 2325 (ALAA)—reached tentative agreements last week following powerful strike actions and sustained public pressure. Remaining on strike are ALAA members at CAMBA Legal Services, Goddard Riverside Law Project, and Urban Justice Center while legal workers at organizations including the Legal Aid Society, New York Legal Assistance Group, Bronx Defenders, Office of the Appellate Defender, and the Center for Appellate Litigation are working as they vote on tentative agreements.  

This week, New York politicians representing neighborhoods where the remaining striking organizations serve vulnerable community members signed two letters of support, one addressed to CAMBA and the other to Goddard Riverside, respectively. 

The letter to CAMBA addresses the organization’s President and CEO Valerie Barton-Richardson and Chief Legal Officer and Executive Director Elizabeth Miller, with the executive senior staff, senior vice presidents, and board all copied. It was led by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and includes 26 elected officials such as NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, State Senators Zellnor Myrie and Jabari Brisport, City Counselors Carmen De La Rosa, Rita Joseph, and Crystal Hudson, and more.

The Goddard letter, addressed to Roderick L. Jones, President of Goddard Riverside, is signed by the elected representatives who refer cases to Goddard and, in some cases, have worked with Goddard for decades. The letter was led by Democratic Nominee for Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, currently a State Senator, and includes every single Manhattan west side elected representative.

Every day, ALAA members provide free legal representation to tenants facing eviction, immigrants at risk of deportation, families navigating child welfare and custody cases, survivors of domestic violence, the unhoused, and people seeking access to health care, disability benefits, and other critical services.

Underfunded for decades, these legal services workers are demanding fair wages, adequate resources, and staffing to reduce burnout and high turnover—issues that directly impact the quality of representation their clients receive. Common demands across the sector focus on lifting wages and guaranteeing workload protections that ensure working class New Yorkers get the best, most experienced advocates and that these union members can afford to stay in jobs they love.

As the cost of living rises and the city’s legal services funding lags, they are taking action to ensure all New Yorkers—especially working-class communities targeted by the Trump Administration’s harmful policies—have real access to justice.