Public Employee Press

Union lawyers honored in battle for social justice

The lawyers and legal assistants of DC 37's Municipal Employees Legal Services and Legal Dept. fight for members' rights every day on the frontlines of the war for social justice. The union celebrated their dedication May 1 at a luncheon marking Law Day.

MELS Director and Chief Counsel Joan Beranbaum, who was joined by MELS Associate Director Robert Martin, praised the work of her staff while they were displaced from their offices in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. "I've never been more proud to be a part of MELS," she said.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts introduced guest speaker Public Advocate Letitia James, the first black woman elected to citywide office, as "an advocate for the people we advocate for."

A graduate of the Howard University School of Law, James started her career as a public defender in the Legal Aid Society representing underprivileged youths caught up in the criminal justice system. She was appointed assistant state attorney general for Brooklyn, where she took on predatory lenders and worked with the Civil Rights Bureau to reveal the inequities of the Bloomberg administration's stop-and-frisk policing tactic.

"It is my duty to speak up on behalf of the members of DC 37," James said. She applauded the service provided by MELS to DC 37 members, noting that the vast majority of New Yorkers do not have legal aid. Beranbaum called James, "A woman after my own heart, leading the way for social change."

Observed in the United States on May 1, Law Day was founded under President Dwight Eisenhower to commemorate the importance of law in American society.

May 1 is also International Workers' Day, the main holiday honoring workers in most of the world. Celebrated with marches and demonstrations by unions and working-class institutions (see page 5), the event has been revived in the United States since 2006 with a strong focus on immigrants' rights.

Legal workers at DC 37 are proud to celebrate both on the same day, Beranbaum said. "We work with the law to defend labor."