QUEENS DEFENDERS STAFF WIN UNION ELECTION
QUEENS, NY--After a lengthy battle with Queens Defenders management, including the firing of two beloved employees, the National Labor Relations Board has certified the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys - UAW Local 2325 as the representative of professional staff at Queens Defenders in a vote of 46-12 with the Union winning 79% of the vote. Queens Defenders Executive Director had notably previously claimed that the ALAA did not “have 90%. They’re full of s--t”. Not all eligible votes were counted, as, during the ballot count, Queens Defenders challenged the votes of 8 voters who returned ballots alleging, in Trumpian fashion, that the Union was promoting “voter fraud” as well as the ballots of the 3 employees who have been fired during the election campaign. The Union will now move to elect a bargaining committee and begin bargaining in earnest towards a first collective bargaining agreement with Queens Defenders.
Throughout the almost three month campaign period, staff were faced with a barrage of intimidation and coercion from management including Executive Director Lori Zeno who implied that Queens Defenders would lose its contracts if staff opted to join the Union. The campaign has drawn the attention of multiple Queens elected officials after the Executive Director Lori Zeno fired two union supporters and claimed that her employees were a "mob".
Instead of backing down, Queens Defenders has doubled down on their anti-union stance. After another employee gave her notice of resignation, Lori Zeno questioned her about whether and how she had voted in the union election in violation of federal law, and then fired her immediately, last night, when the employee did not respond. The Union alleges that 3 employees have been terminated for their union activity in the past month alone.
“As the official and exclusive bargaining agent of its employees, ALAA expects Queens Defenders to comply with the order of the NLRB, recognize the Union, and begin bargaining in good faith towards an expedient first contract” said ALAA President Lisa Ohta. “Queens Defenders must end its campaign of fearmongering and retaliation and come to the table with its workers as equals.”