For over a decade the judges in New York got no salary increase. Budget cuts in other states have eliminated perks that judges used to get. Judicial pensions have been under attack in New Jersey. But as the Washington Post reported not many judges have thought about joining a union.

Some District judges have found themselves in the unusual position of envying the city’s teachers, firefighters and garbage collectors. Those jobs come with something not currently available to those who wear robes to work: the ability to join a union.

Now a group of city administrative law judges is seeking to organize for the first time, and the months-long effort — taking place over the strenuous objections of the judges’ supervisor — has generated frustration among union advocates who think Mayor Vincent C. Gray has failed to match his pro-labor rhetoric with action.