CAMBA Attorneys Return To Work After Monthlong Strike

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — Brooklyn attorneys will return to work Friday after a monthlong strike protesting contracts that left new parents relying on food stamps while the nonprofit's CEO earned $500,000 a year, the group announced.

Attorneys at CAMBA Legal Services, which provides free legal services for roughly 45,000 low-income New Yorkers, will return to work after the nonprofit and the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys UAW Local 2325 union were able to negotiate a new contract for its staff, the organization stated.

"CAMBA Legal Services is pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached," a CAMBA spokeswoman told Patch in an email.

"We look forward to staff returning to serving the clients who depend upon us for outstanding legal representation and other services."

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A representative for the striking CAMBA attorneys confirmed the contracts had been renogiated to include raises for staff attorneys, guaranteed annual cost of living adjustments, a new grievance process to report and handle case overload, and an enhanced parental paid leave plan.

The strike began on April 15 after six months of failed negotiations with the Flatbush nonprofit, which is run from offices at 1720 Church Ave., workers said.

CAMBA initially refused to increase salaries and provide paid leave for all new parents during contract negotiations, according to workers who argued poor compensation was responsible nearly 25 percent of attorneys leaving the nonprofit.

While CAMBA spent $82 million compensating its 3,172 employees in 2017, which makes for an average annual salary of about $26,000, 15 key employees earned more than $3.8 million and CEO Joanne Oplustil earned $503,090, according to 2018 Internal Revenue Service tax filings.

Workers also objected to a maternity leave policy that only covered birth mothers — not fathers, adoptive parents or step-parents — who were granted 13 weeks leave at 70 percent of the their usual salary, the workers said.