Several Queens elected officials joined the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) UAW Local 2325 and Queens Defenders staff to condemn the firing of two Queens Defenders employees for what they call a “retaliation” for their union activities, on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
Staff at the Queens Defenders, a nonprofit legal defense group that’s represented Queens residents who can’t afford attorneys for 25 years, have organized to join the UAW Local 2325 union since Dec. 16. Ninety percent of eligible employees signed union authorization cards, according to a New York Focus report — but that number as well as calls to unionize have been harshly disputed by Lori Zeno, Queens Defenders’ co-founder and executive director.
