CFI :: Region 2 Bargaining Update

July 19, 2005

After two days of bargaining last Thursday and Friday, July 14th and 15th, your committee made a little bit of progress and a commitment to keep on chugging for a fair contract. Marta Duncan from Santa Clara and Muriel Falak from Sonoma joined the committee in negotiations and got a taste of what goes into bargaining. We’re happy to report that we’re extremely close to a tentative agreement on Assignments that includes a seniority system. This is something we’ve been fighting for since the beginning. Unfortunately the Region is still refusing to grant seniority for cross-assignments, making it difficult for interpreters in lesser-used languages to ever meet the 50% time threshold to receive benefits.

The Region’s proposal on salary “generously” restored the half-day rate that had been cut in their previous proposal. Taking something away and then giving it back is pretty cheap, as far as we’re concerned. Nonetheless, we countered with a big move on wages – proposing an across-the-board 4% increase each year in the second and third years of a three-year contract, but offering to accept no raise this year for full and part time employees who will receive a generous benefits package. We are still seeking a pay increase this year for those employees who will not qualify for benefits. The Region continues to insist there will be no raise for anyone this year, and they offer only a “reopener” next year to bargain again over wages with an increase, if any, taking effect in July of 2006. The Region’s proposals on benefits and work hours remained unchanged- they reject our modest proposal to recognize your many years of service with three weeks of paid vacation per year. Their proposal on professional standards was regressive- actually worse than their previous proposal.

It is clear that this Region is still stuck in a place where a deal can’t be made, unable to meet us in the middle. The Courts refuse to engage in meaningful dialogue and to work with us to find common ground. They come unprepared to bargain on the issues that matter most to us. And then there’s the fact that there are no decision-makers at the table. This has been an ongoing problem that has significantly slowed the pace of negotiations.

We show up at every session ready to reach a deal. But it takes two to tango and it feels like we’re there with our dancing shoes on but the Region is never in the mood. In the face of this frustrating attitude, your Union team has continued to look for creative and innovative proposals in an attempt to reach an agreement. Instead of wearing us down, the Region appears to be doing a better job at wearing down Joe Wiley, their very own negotiator, who again requested that we agree to seek mediation services. We will pursue any avenue in the hope of achieving a fair first contract in bargaining and we have agreed to see if a mediator can help.

We are angry that the Region’s lack of good faith is costing you money in benefits coverage for every pay period that they drag this process out. Meanwhile, they are willing to pay high rates to agencies for non-certified interpreters and don’t mind paying premiums to contractors. They claim to value our services and commitment, but they refuse to recognize that they will never overcome the shortage of certified interpreters in the Bay Area courts without employment conditions that actually encourage us to stay in the state courts and to accept cross-assignments.

We have scheduled two dates with the mediator who was involved with the BART negotiations: August 3 and August 17. We have also filed two more Unfair Labor Practice charges (ULPs) against the courts; one for their failure to provide adequate information necessary for the union to assess the benefits proposal and issues related to the transition to full employment. The second ULP is over the use of a language line interpreter when a certified employee was available in Alameda County.

We appreciate your patience (we know it wears thin) and your incredible, ongoing support. We’re determined to reach an agreement at the table if we can. But it must be a fair agreement that we can live with. And we’re doing everything in our power to avoid more of the kind of difficulties and disruptions that the courts experienced at the beginning of this month. We know that if all else fails we can count on you for that. Let’s hope we won’t need to take that step because somehow, somewhere, someone in this Region wakes up and decides that, instead of fighting us, they could try out some new dance steps and waltz into fall with a brand new labor agreement with court interpreters.