Region 1 Bargaining Update

June 26 & 27, 2018 Stanley Mosk Courthouse

Your Bargaining Committee met with Region 1 on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in the hopes of finalizing a contract after nearly a year of bargaining.  Our contract expired on June 30, 2017.  At the last session in May we were told that the next available date was not until August 2nd but after vigorous protest from our counsel, we were granted earlier dates.  Court Counsel, Ivette Peña, acted as Region 1 spokesperson, as the usual spokesman, Joe Wiley, was not available either day.

The key issues that were still in dispute surrounded wages and assignments.  As you know, the committee was focused on a wage proposal that additionally included longevity pay (step system).  To that end, until the union's most recent proposal, each proposal made by the bargaining committee included a monetary increase in our salary based on service years.  As a counter, the Court proposed a 2.75% base salary increase upon ratification; a one-time 2% signing bonus for A and C status employees, and $500.00 for F status. Then in the second year of the contract, a 2.5% base salary increase, and 2.25% base salary increase in the third year. The Court’s final wage proposal also included a one-time, non-pensionable, non-base payment on July 15^th, 2019. The breakdown is: 1% for employees with 5 to 9 years of continuous service; 2% for those with 10 to 14 years of continuous service; and 3% to those employees with 15, or more years of continuous service.

Concerning Article 18, Assignments, the Court accepted the Union’s proposal which requires a meet and confer between Management and the Union prior to the implementation of the new assignment scheduling system and would incorporate any agreed upon changes into the MOU.  Over the course of two days of negotiations, the committee was able to formally Tentatively Agree to provisions in the MOU regarding Leaves of Absence, New Employees, and technical updates to the grievance procedure. 

The complete contract will now be sent to TNG for review and approval to present to the Region 1 bargaining unit members for a vote.  This document represents many months of hard work; however, it is not fully endorsed by this bargaining team with regards to Articles 21 (Salary) and 37 (Stewards). Specifically, the team is not satisfied with the singular one-time longevity bonus proposed by the Court; it does not add anything to the base salary (something that has be neglected by the Court for way too long) and does not truly reflect the value of long-time commitment by the interpreters to the Courts. In Article 37 the issue in contention is the LASC’s failure to follow past practice of paying for caucus time to prepare for contract negotiations … something that has been the precedent over the last 15 years.

Thank you Branda Rosas-Almada, Miguel Acevedo, Hernán Vargas, Diana Díaz, Sonia Peralta, James Varese, Marco Larriva, Ismael Carrillo, Chi Choi, Sandra Rodríguez, Ana Placencia, Karmele Landaribar, and Irene Luévano for showing your support by attending the session(s)!  The presence of so many members visibly impressed temporary spokesperson, Ivette Peña.

Be attentive for updates regarding the TNG approval process and bargaining unit contract ratification vote.

Yours in solidarity,

Region 1 Bargaining Update

May 21 and May 22, 2018, Santa Fe Springs 

• SLO  Side Letter relating to benefits
• Article 19.3 side letter relating to cross assignments
• Article 8 - Discipline and Discharge
• Article 22 - Professional Conduct, Standards and Conditions 

Region 1 Bargaining Update

The Bargaining Committee met with Court Administration today in Santa Fe Springs, and the following is a synopsis of the latest developments in our contract negotiations: 

This Saturday meeting is open to all members in good standing of the union in Region 1.  Therefore, people from other regions, freelancers or associate members will not be permitted to attend.

The meeting is specifically to address the Region 1 contract bargaining and mobilization and will take place on Saturday, May 12 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the CFI Local 39000 offices located at 12215 N. Telegraph Rd., Suite 210, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670.   

  
In solidarity… 
  
Your Region 1 Bargaining Team 
CFI Local 39000, CWA-TNG 
  
Pedro Ramírez-Navas 
Daniel Kaufman  
Doris Vick  
Michael Ferreira  
Robert Guerrero  
Caren Sencer, Spokesperson  

Region 1 Bargaining Update

March 28, 2018, Stanley Mosk Courthouse

• Year One of the Contract – 2.5%, up from 2%.
• Year Two of the Contract – 2.25%, up from 2%.
• Year Three of the Contract – 2%, as previously offered.

1. No other bargaining unit in the Courts has a COLA, which is an increase tied to the CPI (Consumer Price Index).

2. There is a low turnover among interpreter employees, which indicates to the Court that the workforce has no feeling of dissatisfaction; if the workforce was dissatisfied, they would look for work elsewhere. He discounts retirements, as not counting as separations .

3. In the same vein, the Courts feel that the benefits and wages offered to interpreter employees are comparable to those offered by other employers, which indicates to them that their workforce is satisfied with the present wage and benefit structure.

4. As far as the proposed step structure, Mr. Wiley gave a “brief” history as to why interpreters were not given steps in 2005 when the first contract was negotiated. He explained that as a new classification, it would have been “very expensive” to slot interpreters into a step system, and administration would have had to significantly decrease the starting salary to a number which would have made it difficult to recruit new employees. The Courts opted to use their resources to raise the salary for those interpreters already employed.

• We incorporated into our counter offer the Courts’ percentage increase numbers of 2.5%, 2.25%, and 2% over the life of the three-year contract.

• Additionally, the team requested three “longevity increases” which shall be added to the base rate on the anniversary of each interpreter’s Continuous Service Date (CSD): $0.25/hour after five years of service; $0.50/hour after ten years of service; and $0.75/hour after fifteen years of service. These increases would begin on the first pay period, twelve months after the ratification date.

• We also requested that effective the first pay period after ratification, all employees receive a one-time 2% signing bonus.

• The team continued to press for a wage differential for interpreters who are certified or registered in more than one language pair and proposed a 2% salary enhancement for each additional language.

Results of Local 39000 Local Elections

March 29, 2018

On March 29^th the ballots in the election for a new Local Officers and Executive Board Representatives (Regions 1, 2, 3 and Freelance) were counted at the CWA District 9 offices in Santa Fe Springs. 
 
Total Number of Ballots Issued                850

Number of Ballots Returned                    520                
 
Local President:              Mary Lou Aranguren
 
Local Vice President:      Juan Ramirez
 
Local Secretary:             Delia Castro
 
Local Treasurer:             Katy Van Sant
 
Region 1 Representative:    Anne McGinn
 
Region 2 Representative:    Daniel Navarro
 
Region 3 Representative:    Tyler Nguyen
 
Freelance Representative:    Marianne Franco
 
Members of the Local Election Committee:
                                
Jackie Ruiz                                                                             
Chair    
                                                                                   
Pedro Sahagun
Member 
 
Anna Behnken
Member

CFI Local 39000 Election 2018