Why Choose CWA?
by Roxana Cárdenas

CFI/BACI have launched a card signing campaign to choose our representative for collective bargaining and employer-employee relations. CFI/BACI are asking interpreters to choose the Communication Workers of America (CWA). Although CFI/BACI are currently affiliated with CWA, interpreters must still formally select our exclusive representative in each region by signing authorization cards.

BACI and CFI entered intoour affiliation agreements with CWA in 1999 and 2000 respectively and we accomplished our goal of gaining employee status together with CWA. No other union was up to the task.

Affiliation with CWA was not the result of a rash decision. It was preceded by decades of labor relations activity and union research by interpreters dating back to the mid-70's when Los Angeles County Administration customarily negotiated
contracts with interpreters.

In the mid-80's, GLAC, the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the CCIA (CFI's predecessor), continued to participate in the collective bargaining process. GLAC sought direction from other county court unions such as Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU's Local 660 informed interpreters that since interpreters were not employees and that only employees could be unionized, they weren't interested in unionizing us.

The early 90's signaled the end of collective bargaining between L.A. Court Administration and court interpreters, in part due to a comprehensive audit of the Los Angeles courts by the IRS. In response to a membership vote, GLAC commenced a long struggle to gain an employment identity through a writ of mandate, which would force the county to negotiate with us once again. Although we lost, we were directed by the judge to pursue legislative remedy.

During this period of time, talks with SEIU Local 535 did not lead to anything concrete. SEIU, Local 660, rejected us one final time because organizing us was not financially feasible for them.

In 1999 and 2000, BACI and CFI defined our needs with regard to a union. We wanted financial and legal support from a union, but we did not want to compromise
our membership's autonomy in forging our own destiny as a profession. We wanted to be able to form our own local and attract a union that was not dissuaded by our
non-employee status. CWA fit all these criteria.

CWA is the largest communications and media union in the United States. It represents more than 700,000 professionals such as university professionals, researchers and technical employees in the University of California system, broadcast anchors at NBC, CBS, and CNN, journalists at the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the traditional telephone industry technical workers at AT&T and Cingular Wireless. Further, more than 2000 collective bargaining agreements in the U.S. are attributed to CWA.

Recently, other organizations have shown interest in organizing interpreters. In some cases these are the very organizations who declined to help us because the task of passing legislation to reclassify interpreters as employees seemed insurmountable, or just too expensive. CWA not only took on this challenge, but has allowed interpreters to call the shots in the legislative process and will provide interpreters the opportunity to decide how our needs will best be met. CFI and BACI are confident that CWA's expertise, experience and status as a major nationwide AFL-CIO union will be indispensable as we embark on negotiations in the near future.

By choosing CWA, interpreters will also be choosing CFI/BACI. Together we can meet the challenge of successfully negotiating our first contract as employees and finally make our collective voice heard.