Update - Regions 2 and 3

 

Santa Cruz and Mendocino Work Actions

COASTAL NORTHERN CA (Aug 1, 2017)_ Your staff interpreter colleagues in Santa Cruz and Mendocino were walked out on both ends of Region 2 yesterday to protest unilateral changes in pension contributions and the Region's refusal to bargain over the increases.

The Santa Cruz one-day, unfair labor practice (ULP) protest was called to highlight the Court's recent decision  to unilaterally impose changes in benefits that will mean a 3.7% cut in take home pay for Santa Cruz interpreters.  Mendocino cut the staff interpreter's paycheck by 7.8% in October by unilaterally implementing the pension changes.  

Other court employees in the majority of Region 2 courts received wage increases to offset increased benefit costs, but the Region 2 courts refuse to do the same for interpreters.

The Union filed a ULP charge and the Public Employment Relations Board issued a complaint against the Region for refusing to bargain over similar changes in Santa Clara, Marin, Contra Costa and San Mateo. The charge was amended to include the Santa Cruz changes.

This unequal treatment is the reason our wage growth has lagged so far behind other court workers. This affects all of us because staff interpreter pay and the official Judicial Council per diem affect the entire market for our services. The official contractor pay rate has not gone up since 2007. We are all being undervalued by the California trial courts and we will all benefit from uniting in support for fair compensation.

 

Sacramento and San Joaquin Interpreters Picket
Defend Language Access; Protest Pay Inequities

SACRAMENTO, CA (July 30, 2017)_ After a year of negotiations and three-months of delay since the last bargaining session, a mediation session this Wednesday in Sacramento provides one more chance for Region 3 and CFI to reach a settlement that your bargaining team can recommend for ratification. 

Interpreters rejected a Last Best and Final Offer presented by the Region last March and the Courts' negotiator refused to consider a counter proposal from the Union in May. Interpreters met to discuss the issues in June and voted to authorize a strike with participating interpreters voting 100% in favor.

At issue are wages and proposals by the Region to deteriorate employee rights. The proposals would allow courts to waive the use of staff interpreters, and make it harder to protect our work. Several  proposals would make it easier for Courts to use unqualified interpreters by eliminating members' rights to challenge bad practices that are contrary to the Judicial Council's statewide Language Access Plan. 

Court Interpreters Walk Out in 4 Counties
Alameda, San Francisco, Contra Costa and Marin

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 30, 2017) _ Region 2 court interpreters walked off the job mid-morning Friday to rally in San Francisco at Judicial Council headquarters. Dozens of interpreters joined the protest, chanting, “1-2-3-4 we won’t take it anymore, 5-6-7-8 JCC Discriminates!” 
 
After nearly a year without a contract, the protest was held to bring attention to the Region's unfair labor practices and demand that the Judicial Council address unequal pay and the compensation system that results in disparate impacts on court interpreters, and undermines justice for the immigrant communities that rely on language access daly in our courts.

Colleagues who work for the courts as independent contractors joined the protest to show unity in our common cause for pay and compensation that matches our professional skills.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi came out to march in solidarity with interpreters.

Adachi said his office now sends lawyers to immigration court where interpretation standards are much lower, and clients don't receive simultaneous interpretation of the entire proceeding. He pledged his support in our struggle for fair wages and in the fight against what he called "cheap justice."

We know we can count on Adachi as an ally in our efforts to defend high standards for language access in California's trial court

 

R2: Unexpected Return to Bargaining Table

In a positive development, the Region asked CFI’s bargaining committee to return to the table after last week’s mediation failed to yield an agreement, and on Thursday the parties confirmed a meeting for Friday afternoon. 

Both sides came back to the table motivated to reach a settlement on outstanding issues. Several non-controversial, non-economic issues were cleared up, and both sides offered compromise positions on other issues, including a conceptual agreement to resolve the two step advancement issues. 
 
While these developments are encouraging, a number of sticking points remain, significantly that the Region wants a longer agreement and the Union is unwilling to extend the term with interpreters getting zero in wage relief for the past year. The Region is also holding up an agreement, inexplicably, over a proposal to deteriorate current terms for night court pay that the Region had not previously made clear, as would be expected, by showing strike through of existing language in a written proposal. 
 
The Region did not make a written proposal Friday, did not come to the table with authority to fully resolve outstanding issues, and was not able to offer bargaining dates this week. As a result the Union said it will forge ahead with plans for work actions while strike plans are finalized.