SF Legal Aid Society Staff Join Union & Secure Voice at Work

By Elizabeth Kristen, ESC Local 20 Bargaining Team Member at Legal Aid Society



The Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center (las-elc.org) will be 100 years old next year and, since the 1970s, has been dedicated to advancing the rights of low-income workers. LAS-ELC's committed and hardworking attorneys, paralegals, development professionals, community workers, and support staff recently determined to also protect their own workplace rights by joining ESC Local 20.



In May 2015, LAS-ELC staff presented to management a unanimous petition to join ESC Local 20. Knowing there is strength in numbers, we decided to form our union as a wall-to-wall unit and easily won a card count. Staff morale immediately improved once the union was recognized and the solidarity among all staff remains strong and continues to grow. As workers' rights advocates, we understand the power of collective action and unionization. Before forming the union, we sometimes were able to give “input” into management decisions but with the union behind us, we feel like a more equal partnership is being established to the benefit of the organization’s mission and our clients.



Over the summer, the new Local 20 members of LAS-ELC worked together with our Union Representative, Debbie Durham, to determine our bargaining priorities and propose our first contract. LAS-ELC staff are seeking to codify their 35-hour work week as well as add to and enhance other provisions consistent with those our organization advocates for nationally, statewide and locally such as family friendly workplace policies. Bargaining began in earnest in September 2015 and is ongoing. While all non-profits face financial concerns, it is a good time for LAS-ELC to invest in its human capital so it can retain its hard-working staff and continue to advance the fight for workers' rights. We hope to negotiate a model contract that will inspire other legal non-profits to adopt best practices concerning their own workers. And we are inspired by recent organizing drives in other sectors such as those at Gawker and Huffington Post.



As a member of LAS-ELC’s bargaining team and as a LAS-ELC Senior Staff Attorney and Director of the Gender Equity and LGBT Rights Program, I feel the formation of our union runs true to the collective commitment of LAS-ELC to workers’ rights. LAS-ELC’s board echoed a similar sentiment saying it welcomed the news of staff’s unionization and that the “organization recognizes and is very proud of its staff’s work and dedication in furthering the organization’s mission and in achieving … remarkable results for our clients.” The organization also said it “welcomed frank, open discussions about compensation, policies, benefits and other working conditions with its staff.” As we enter into our second quarter of bargaining, we hope a fair and just settlement will be reached quickly with these sentiments in mind.



(reprinted from ESC/IFPTE Local 20’s newsletter)

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