News from the California Federation of Interpreters Picket Line

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October 2, 2007

SAY WHAT?

Clarke gets warm welcome

More than 150 interpreters at the Hall of Administration plaza gave Court Clerk John Clarke a rowdy welcome from his vacation in Italy today. With our usual banging of drums, garbage cans, tambourines, cowbells and a plethora of other very loud instruments, interpreters staged a percussive opera for the right hand man of the courts. The lyrics were very simple: we want steps! The message resounded from the walls of the Civil Court House—we're confident it was heard clearly indeed.

Myung-Soo Seok, Development Director with the L.A. County Federation of Labor, spoke at our rally. "You give voice to the people in the court system," he said. "We applaud you and pledge to stand with you until the courts go back to the negotiating table."

Also addressing the rally was our own Ariel Torrone and Flavio Posse, both of whom exhorted their colleagues to stay strong.

The media was out in force as well, and several of our members gave colorful interviews to radio stations and print outlets. They pointed out what has become very obvious the longer the strike goes on: we are victims of discrimination from the courts. They are singling us out as the only group that is denied a benefit everybody else enjoys.

(It seems more than mere coincidence to us that our group is comprised mostly of women and minorities. And it seems more than mere coincidence that our group serves a sector of the public that is almost exclusively minority. What gives, your honor?)

Road Rage

Interpreters are not people who take kindly to being discriminated against. So we are taking the party to courthouses around the county.

Today, a spirited rally in Long Beach culminated in a visit from an L.B.P.D. sergeant, who said everyone in the court building and in the federal building across the street was complaining about the noise from our esteemed drummer band. Discretion being the better part of valor, indeed, rather than be arrested for disturbing the peace band members decided it was time for happy hour.

Tomorrow, clad in green, we will all pay a visit to Compton to see what new friends we can make.

New interpreters hold the line

Attendees at the Ethics Training Seminar for new interpreters, held last Saturday in Burbank, told CFI representatives—who showed up to monitor the activities—that they would honor our picket lines. Bravo and welcome.

Coordinators make desperation calls

Today, numerous interpreters received phone calls from coordinators, who informed them that they heard everyone was coming back in tomorrow (Wednesday). "Are you available?" the interpreters were asked.

I guess we get up pretty early in the morning, because not a single interpreter we know fell for this clever trick. It does make us wonder, though. If you're doing so well, why the desperation?

The Price of Respect

For Maria Kott, an interpreter with more than 13 years working for the courts, our strike is all about respect. It does not matter to her that pulmonary fibrosis requires her to lug an oxygen tank around to get through the day—she's at the picket line at 7:30 am in the East Los Angeles courts for her five hour shift no matter what. "This strike will make us recognized as professionals and it's worth the sacrifice," she says.

A native of Mexico, Kott had only finished high school and did not speak a word of English when she came to the U.S at age 19. She worked in a furniture store while putting herself through college, finally becoming a legal secretary. Intrigued by the interpreters who came in to cover depositions at her law firm, she decided that was the profession she wanted to join. She went back to school for another two years, then passed the certification test in 1990. She worked in the private sector for a while before joining the courts, ironically, for its better pay. "At the time, work in the private sector was not as high as the salary in the courts." She is aware that she could earn far more in the private sector, but she says she is now integrated into the court system; besides, she adds, to be successful in private practice you have to be very organized. "I am not so disciplined in that regard," she says.

Kott frankly admits that she was not completely in favor of the strike when it began. She thought it was not right time to stage a work action. However, by now, she feels the strike was necessary to get the consideration and fair treatment that interpreters deserve. "Many times the judge asks everyone in the court if they mind working late or through lunch and he never even asks the interpreter if that's alright. We are ignored, as if we don't exist. We do exist."

If nothing else, Kott is sure that the strike will make judges aware of the difference between interpreters who are qualified and those who are not, between those who know what they're doing and those who cannot find the right words—because they don't know them. In her opinion, the salary steps we are demanding will give us much overdue recognition for the work that certified interpreters do. "The people we help are not recognized. They are poor, they do not speak the language. They associate us with them and that is why the judges don't give us the respect that they give to attorneys and other court staff."

An unexpected side benefit of the strike for Kott is the unity that exists now among interpreters. "We have finally put aside our differences," she notes, with satisfaction. "Now we're a group—if nothing else, we have that self recognition as professionals and as a community. We're opening the way for the others, for the young people who will follow us in this profession."