Chants such as “stalling tactics are no good, sign a contract like you should,” were heard outside of 177 Livingston St. during a sweltering afternoon in Downtown Brooklyn, on July 26 by employees of the Brooklyn Defender Services.

The Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is an interdisciplinary public defenders office that offers legal services such as criminal defense and family representation to community members. The organization’s employees used their lunch hour for a lunchtime picket line, to protest the stalled contract negotiation between their union and their employer.

In 2021, more than 350 employees of the BDS voted to unionize, under the umbrella of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. They hoped to negotiate a contract with their employer over issues such as improving their insurance coverage, implementing a hybrid work schedule, and securing higher pay. BDS employee and protestor, Esther, says she can’t even find a provider in network with the insurance that they BDS has.

A protestor with a sign that shows how tired BDS employees are of having no contract since unionizing in 2021. Photo by Ebony Prescod

Now, almost two years later, those who work for the BDS are still without a contract.

The employees claim that BDS management is not negotiating with its employees in good faith.

In their press release, BDS employees state that the management has used stalling tactics to discourage union members from organizing. Instead of outlining long-term and permanent solutions that could be implemented in a contract, management has only supplied “interim solutions,” that would only be in effect for a certain amount of time, determined by them, and the terms would be subject to change.

The BDS employees are not standing down. In April 2023, they signed a petition that urged management to bargain with the union. They have also picketed outside the BDS headquarters, and the July 26 protest is their second rally to try and motivate their managers to come to the bargaining table, ready to negotiate.

As protestor and BDS employee, Carolyn said, “We love this work. We love our clients, and we just want to be able to have a livable wage in New York and have healthcare that meets our needs.”