BronxWorks Legal Services Department Union Members Condemn Management’s Anti-Union Campaign

The BronxWorks Legal Services Department Union this week condemned the union-busting actions of BronxWorks management, which has included hiring an anti-union law firm, tearing down union literature, and distributing explicitly anti-union rhetoric to members. Workers are calling on CEO Eileen Torres, as well as BronxWorks leadership, to voluntarily recognize the union.

The BronxWorks Legal Services Department union went public on June 16th after an overwhelming majority of members signed union authorization cards to join the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys (ALAA, UAW-2325). The public interest legal services sector is heavily unionized, and it is an industry standard for employers to voluntarily recognize unions. In refusing to respect the wishes of their workers, BronxWorks management is breaking with the norms of its industry and harming its employees and their clients.

Instead of recognizing the Union, BronxWorks management has embarked on a concerted union-busting campaign to delay, mislead, and block unionization. In an email to staff, Torres stated that BronxWorks does “not believe unionizing will best serve [worker] interests,” and used classic union-busting language to paint unions as inefficient, slow, and inflexible. Management has retained union-busting law firm Jackson Lewis, which has notoriously blocked unionization efforts in universities across the country. Members have even observed supervisors and custodial staff tearing down union flyers posted in shared office spaces and cubicles. Read more hereand follow the workers herefor updates!