Region 2 Update
No Deal in Mediation: Interpreters’ Fight for Fairness Continues
SAN FRANCISCO _ (July 22, 2017) Region 2 representatives and CFI’s bargaining committee met for a mediation session July 20, 2017 that failed to produce an agreement for a successor MOU.
The following joint statement was issued by the mediator.
“The negotiation teams for both the Superior Courts of California in Region 2 and the Federation of Interpreters, Local 39000, met on Thursday, July 20, 2017, with State mediators in an attempt to resolve the current impasse dispute for a successor contract. Despite their best efforts, a mediated agreement to resolve the dispute was not reached.”
This leaves us at the same point as before going to mediation. Several proposals that leave interpreters vulnerable are still unresolved, including:
1. Making step increases contingent on satisfactory performance evaluations, which CFI finds problematic on several grounds. First, the Region has insisted on putting all wage improvements in the steps (no COLA’s or other raises). That means interpreters' only wage improvements would be subject to the whim of supervisors, many of whom are not interpreters and don’t understand the complexities of our job. Also, since we've agreed the evaluation process will be subject to meet and confer with each court before implementation, too many things are yet to be defined for us to agree to this proposal.
2. The Region’s insistence on an unequal system for step advancement where part time and intermittent interpreters would be treated differently in come counties, and receive wage increases much more slowly. These members wouldn’t benefit from the wage growth we’ve bargained, while interpreters in other counties would get annual increases like full timers. This is fundamentally unfair. In addition to creating inequity within our unit, this proposal violates the uniform compensation requirement in the Interpreter Act, and is a bad idea because it won't help solve the courts' recruitment problems.
Region 2 representatives didn’t budge during Thursday’s mediation, failing to make any meaningful movement toward reaching a deal with court interpreters. CFI offered ideas on how to resolve the few outstanding issues, but the Region was not interested.
The root of the problem holding up an agreement is the Region’s inability to agree on uniform conditions for our bargaining unit, across counties. Rather than bargain in good faith with us to find what works for our unit, again and again the Region wants to default to whatever each court does with its other employee groups, leaving us with inequality amongst us. The contradiction is that they don't apply the same principle when it would benefit us, like granting us a wage offset, COLA’S, or bonuses given to other employees_ the Region says under the law courts can’t apply compensation improvement to us, and they don’t seem troubled that we're treated less favorably. The Region's positions are not just contradictory, many see them as discriminatory.
These issues can be resolved at any time when the courts are ready to agree on terms that treat our members fairly. As we said before mediation, no agreement means we'll resume work actions as strike plans and preparations are finalized.
San Francisco members met Friday. Additional meetings are being scheduled at courthouses and by phone. Be in touch with your local mobilizers about meetings at your location.
Stand UP • Stand STRONG • Stand TOGETHER |
