Question 2State law · Citizen initiative
Union rights for public defender staff
Explain it like I'm 5
CPCS employees help provide lawyers for people who cannot afford them. This would let those workers form a union and negotiate together about pay and working conditions.
Yes vote
Eligible CPCS employees could organize and bargain collectively with their employer.
No vote
The current rules, which do not give CPCS employees these bargaining rights, would remain.
The question to ask yourself
Would collective bargaining improve public-defense work more than it could limit management flexibility or increase costs?
The case for
- Gives CPCS employees rights held by most other state workers.
- Collective bargaining could improve pay, working conditions, and staff retention.
- More stable public-defense staffing could benefit low-income clients.
Backed by: SEIU Local 888, National Association of Government Employees, Massachusetts Defenders Union
The case against
- A contract could reduce management flexibility over staffing and caseloads.
- Future agreements could increase pressure on the state budget.
- The bargaining process could make agency decisions more complicated.
Opposed by: Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance
- Money
- The cost is not estimated because it would depend on future bargaining outcomes and contract terms.
- Don't be misled
- A yes vote would not automatically create a union or guarantee raises, because employees would still have to organize and negotiate.