Support Striking Workers and Don't be a SCAB
Adopted July 14, 2026 by the Joint Council
WHEREAS, the Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Service, Center for Family Representation, Justice in Motion, and Catholic Migration Services are all currently bargaining and may call for strikes in July if they cannot reach agreements with their management; and
WHEREAS, several other shops within our union do not have contracts expiring at the same time; and
WHEREAS, the City maintains a fragmented indigent legal services system first instituted by the Giuliani administration in retaliation for the 1994 ALAA-1199SEIU strike, the sole purpose of which is to undermine our union’s ability to effectively strike in defense of our members and client communities; and
WHEREAS, the fragmented system was only able to be created with the aid of anti-union collaborators, including Lynn Fahey of Legal Aid Society (LAS) and then Appellate Advocates, Dan Arshack of LAS and then Bronx Defenders, Lisa Schreibersdorf of LAS and then Brooklyn Defender Services, Bob Dean of LAS and then Center for Appellate Litigation, Lori Zeno of LAS and then Queens Defenders, and Carolyn Wilson of LAS and then New York County Defenders Association; and
WHEREAS, an injury to one is an injury to all; and
WHEREAS, the source of our power as a union of workers is the ability to collectively withhold our labor; and
WHEREAS, as unionized workers, we uphold labor solidarity by walking picket lines, not crossing them; and
THEREFORE, be it resolved, that
In the event that any ALAA shop calls for a strike, all other ALAA shops are urged to immediately hold a membership meeting to discuss how to strategically support their striking fellow workers and refuse struck work; and
ALAA bargaining units shall not bargain with their management to take on struck work, such as taking on extra shifts because of a strike; and
ALAA members will under no circumstances take struck work, such as extra arraignment shifts, intake shifts, referrals, or transfer cases; and
ALAA members are urged to walk strike picket lines and donate to hardship funds; and
ALAA will use its full resources to support workers who are disciplined by the courts or management for refusing to take struck work or for taking workplace action to support striking workers.