Unionized court interpreters planned a half-day walkout Friday at San Francisco's superior courts, after negotiations for a new contract have reportedly hit a wall.
Interpreters who provide language assistance in SF's superior courts walked off the job Friday morning, with union representatives saying that their workers want wage parity with interpreters in federal courts, who reportedly earn upwards of 35% more in salaries. The union, which represents state court interpreters in 12 California counties, is also seeking to limit the use of remote interpreters across all those counties.
As Mission Local reports, Friday's walkout is likely to cause delays for any cases that involve Spanish speakers and those for whom English is a second language.
"We need trained interpreters for us to do our jobs,” said defense attorney Jennie Stepanian, speaking to Mission Local. “We have so many Spanish-speaking clients that make up a significant population in our courthouse, and it’s vital that they have a fair trial. There need to be more interpreters. Not less."
SF's criminal courts currently employ 21 full-time interpreters, with 16 certified in Spanish, and the other five certified in Hindi, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, and Russian.
According to the union, the number of full-time interpreters employed by the state has shrunk over 40% over the last decade, and Mary Lou Aranguren, who is leading negotiations for the union, tells Mission Local this is due to low wages.
A shortage of interpreters has led to the court paying non-union contractors twice as much as the full-time interpreters, without benefits. And courts have been making greater use of online tools like Zoom since the pandemic, along with the use of remote interpretation. As the union tells Mission Local, this can be detrimental for those suspects in criminal cases who lose the ability to speak off the record with their attorneys, if there is no in-person interpreter available.
"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 Aranguren, in a statement to Bay City News. “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."
The union represents full-time interpreters at state courts in San Benito, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Humboldt, and Mendocino counties collectively known as Region 2.
Alicia Vojnik, a spokesperson for the Region 2 Superior Courts tells Bay City News that the courts "remain committed to negotiating a fair agreement with the court interpreters employed within the Region."
"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," Vojnik said.
