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After more than eight months of bargaining, interpreters working at Northern California state courts authorized a strike this week, alleging unfair labor practices and pay inequities.
The California Alliance of Legal Interpreters, a union representing Superior Courts of California interpreters in 12 Northern California counties, announced Monday that 96% of its members approved the strike authorization after negotiations with the courts broke down.
The union members include 91 staff interpreters employed in San Benito, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Humboldt and Mendocino counties. Trial courts in Napa, Lake, and Del Norte counties do not have interpreters on staff, the union said.
Superior Court interpreters in these 15 counties bargain as one unit, collectively called Region 2.
The union alleges that Region 2 courts are favoring contracted interpreters over staff interpreters. This, they said, is a violation of the Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor Relations Act, a state law that mandates staff interpreters receive hiring priority over contractors.
As a result of preferential treatment for contractors, 42% of staff interpreters have quit their jobs over the last nine years, the union said in a news release.
“The reason that the negotiations are so stalled is that there is a long-term neglect of interpreter compensation and really valuing this work for several decades,” said Mary Lou Aranguren, lead negotiator for the CALI. “A lot of people come to court and don’t get the interpreters they need, and that has to do with the courts’ failing to really develop a solid, adequate workforce of interpreters who are committed to just working in the courts and doing the public service.”
Aranguren said that the union does not want to declare a strike and disrupt court services but will be left with no choice if negotiations do not lead to an equitable outcome for interpreters.
In response, the 15 Superior Courts of Region 2 said in an email statement that if the union calls for a strike, they will continue to provide essential language services.
“The 15 Superior Courts of Region 2 in Northern California remain committed to negotiating a fair agreement with the court interpreters employed within the Region,” said Alicia Vojnik, a spokesperson for the Region 2 Superior Courts in an email. “To that end, the Region has proposed that the parties enter mediation to assist in resolving the significant difference between their respective wage proposals, as well as other outstanding issues.”
– Tanay Gokhale, Bay City News Service
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