WASHINGTON, D.C., February 15, 2022 – Alliance for Justice is proud to announce it has reached an agreement on its first-ever contract with the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, TNG-CWA Local 32035, which represents the organization’s staff. This contract will provide robust protections for the organization’s employees and ensure AFJ remains one of the best places to work for nonprofit professionals.
AFJ has long been a committed partner of the labor movement, fighting for workers and advocating for judges who will uphold workers’ rights. The current Supreme Court’s conservative majority has repeatedly tried to make it harder for private and public sector workers to organize, and AFJ remains steadfast in its fight for a fair and impartial Supreme Court that respects workers’ rights to unionize and collectively bargain.
Highlights from the contract include increased wages with salary minimums, improved health insurance benefits, an unprecedently robust nondiscrimination policy, a more generous holiday schedule, guaranteed funding for employees’ professional development, expanded parental leave, and new opportunities for internal staff collaboration.
Alliance for Justice President Rakim H.D. Brooks issued the following statement:
“Today is a great day for Alliance for Justice as an organization, as well as all of our employees who participated in collective bargaining.
“The modern labor movement built the American middle class as we know it today, paving the way for so many of the important workplace standards we take for granted. We hope their timely resurgence continues to grow, and we are proud to stand with our partners in the labor movement as a newly unionized workplace.
“Like all organizations, ours is going through incredible transitions during difficult world circumstances. But the hard work of all our staff is paying off. Even as a pandemic required us to be physically distant, our commitment to AFJ’s mission and values has made us an even stronger and more unified workplace. We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with the News Guild to build on those strengths and that unity.”
Alliance for Justice Senior Outreach Associate and union negotiating committee member Aaron True issued the following statement:
“I am so proud of the step forward my union siblings and I took today to make Alliance for Justice a great place work. Each of us is at AFJ because we care deeply about its mission to strengthen democracy, embolden advocates, and protect core constitutional rights — including the right to collectively bargain. We are so excited to join the growing ranks of progressive organizations who are living their values by organizing to make their workplaces healthier and our movement stronger. By investing in our staff and each other, we enter tomorrow more powerful than ever before.”