Legal clinic workers in Toronto join Society of United Professionals union

Campaign began with Legal Aid Ontario lawyers

Employees of the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (CSALC) in Toronto voted to join the Society of United Professionals on April 10.

The new bargaining unit includes all employees as well as lawyers.

"We approached the Society of United Professionals and choose them because of the union's reputation in the legal community and the level of support we received during our organizing effort," said Jenny Quan, community legal worker.

CSALC became aware of the Society of United Professionals through the union's campaign to represent Legal Aid Ontario lawyers. The success of that campaign motivated the legal clinic to consider unionization, said the union.

CSALC is a community-based legal clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario which provides free legal services to low income, non-English speaking clients from the Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian communities in Toronto.

The Society of United Professionals (formerly The Society of Energy Professionals) is a union of 8,000 professionals in Ontario, including engineers, scientists, supervisors and lawyers.

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