Pedro Ramirez-Navas

    President

Dear Colleagues,

It is no secret that our profession and our union are facing some serious challenges, but as serious as they may be right now, we have an opportunity to emerge better and stronger than ever before. This is the reason why I am running for president of CFI in the Moving Forward Together slate. I believe our union needs an infusion of new people in its leadership.
 
As president of CFI, I will work hard to rebuild our Local and I will adhere to union values and principles. I am fighting for fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability of officers to the membership. I will be working in conjunction with our allies to insure that we have a permanent presence at the Judicial Council and that we are able to intervene in issues affecting our profession. I will advocate for professional best practices and policies that support our profession.
I want CFI to exert more control over the certification and registration metrics in the state exam.
 
Under my leadership, CFI will rebuild our Legislative Program with the assistance of our lobbyist. We will review the Trial Court Employment and the Labor Relations Act to rectify all problematic issues that have emerged from it.  I will fight to create a master contract for the entire state, instead of bargaining in four different regions. We will promote legislation that reinforces meaningful language access in the courts. We will fight to redefine the correct usage of VRI, as well as guide in a positive direction other notions that the Judicial Council and other courts may have about providing language services. I will promote vigilance and legislation that protects and increases the interpreter funding in the state’s budget.
 
I have already been working really hard to improve our profession and to defend our rights: I have been an active member of the Region 1 Bargaining Committee, I have helped facilitate CFI’s membership into the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, and I have helped organize rallies and actions in support of the bargaining committee during the ongoing negotiations.
 
I ask that you vote for my fellow candidates and me in the Moving Forward Together slate: Daniel Kaufman, Anne McGinn, Lou Lou Tovar, Maria Cruz, Tyler T. Nguyen, and Marianne Franco.
 
Always in solidarity,
 
Pedro Ramirez-Navas