Interpreters to walk off job

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

State court interpreters throughout Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo Counties are striking today after several months of wage discussions between the California Federation of Interpreters union and the Region 1 courts broke down.
The 800 member strong union voted overwhelmingly last month in favor of a strike, which was announced to its members last night.
In Santa Barbara County five interpreters are expected to walk off the job this morning, one of which is stationed in the Santa Barbara division of the Superior Court, while the other four work in the Lompoc and Santa Maria divisions.


Silvia Barden, president of the California Federation of Interpreters, an affiliate of the Communication Workers of America, said the Region 1 courts, which include Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo, have offered a 4 percent wage increase, but the union is asking for annual step increases in their pay as well.
Barden said all other employees of the courts have a pay step system except for the interpreters, who she said make the same flat rate if they’ve worked for one day, or 25 years.
“We’ve tried mediation, we’ve bargained, we’ve attempted to do everything possible to actually engage in real bargaining and it just didn’t happen,” Barden said. “We don’t think [the courts] engaged in real bargaining.”
Santa Barbara’s lone interpreter is Jose A. Navarrete, who has worked full-time for the Superior Court for just over three years.
Despite being the lone union member in the South County, Navarrete said he plans to set up a table in front of the Figueroa Division of the Superior Court to inform passers by of the wage dispute.
Navarrete said he had mixed feelings about walking off the job, but feels supporting his fellow union members is paramount at this point.
“I don’t have anything against these people [in the courts],” Navarrete told the Daily Sound last night. “But I believe in what we’re fighting for. I believe we need to be treated the same as other employees.”
Navarrete, a certified interpreter who speaks English and Spanish, said he interprets in nearly every branch of the courts, from the juvenile level where he interprets for parents of minors being prosecuted, to adult and juvenile defendants who don’t speak English and for judges and witnesses during a trial.
Though Navarrete is the lone full-time interpreter in the Santa Barbara area, several other interpreters are used on a contract basis. As a result, Navarrete said his absence won’t likely impact the operation of the court.
But the situation could be more debilitating in Los Angeles, where Barden said the majority of the union’s 400 Region 1 interpreters will walk out.
“The support is huge, it’s unprecedented,” Barden said. “It’s going to have a huge impact I’ll tell you that much.”
Barden said many of the contract interpreters in the Los Angeles area have vowed to show their support to the full-time workers and not cross the picket lines.
Barden said members of the Communication Workers of America are expected to join either Navarrete in the South County, or the North County interpreters in Santa Maria.
In Los Angeles she said the majority of the strikers will be present at the Central Justice Center on Temple and Broadway, the Long Beach Courthouse on Magnolia and Ocean and the Metropolitan Courthouse on Hill Street.
According to a letter sent to Santa Barbara County Superior Court interpreters on Aug. 16 from Gary M. Blair, executive officer for the court, the 4 percent offer would increase interpreter's current salaries of $70,000 by $2,824.
In the letter, Blair says it was the court’s “last, best and final offer.”
Attempts to reach Blair last night were unsuccessful.
Barden said the striking employees have been informed of the possible lengthy nature of such a strike and are prepared.
“I don’t see this being resolved over night,” Barden said.
For Barden, the strike is a blunt message that she hopes the courts will hear and begin treating interpreters like other court employees.
“Interpreters provide an incredibly valuable service for the community,” Barden said. “We’re the voice of the victims, we’re the voice of the attorney’s, we’re the voice of the judge, we’re the voice of the defendants trying to get a fair trial.
“It’s more than being bilingual and its a shame that the courts don’t recognize that.”