The tentative agreement comes with unanimous recommendation from CFI’s
Region 3 bargaining committee.

Details regarding voting procedures and informational meetings will be
 announced by email no later than Thursday.

Here are the key terms of the agreement:

Wages:

• Each full-time employee will receive a $1,000 lump-sum bonus 30
days after ratification; $1,000 effective October 1, 2013; and $1,000
effective October 1, 2014.
• Part-time employees will receive three bonuses
of $750 on those same dates; intermittent employees will receive three
bonuses of $500.

Early Release: The courts withdrew a proposal that would have allowed them to send any full-time employee home up to two hours early each day, without pay.

Video Remote Interpreting: The courts will be able to implement video remote interpreting upon 90 days’ notice to CFI, but no earlier than April 1, 2014.  Before implementation, the courts will bargain with CFI over the effects of VRI’s implementation. Those effects would include:

• Circumstances that are appropriate for VRI;
• Modes of interpretation; protocols and procedures for appropriate use of VRI;
• Protection of attorney-client privilege and other confidentiality issues;
• Technical minimums for equipment used for VRI, including cameras, video screens, lighting, microphones, audio quality, computers and bandwidth;
• Training for interpreters and other court staff on the use of VRI equipment;
• Onsite technical support;
• Ethical issues related to the use of VRI;
• Impediments to performance;
• How interpreters are to be assigned to VRI;
• Document procedures related to the use of VRI; and
• Compensation.

 Coordinating Interpreters: An employee promoted to be a coordinating interpreter would receive a pay premium that’s 10 percent higher than their current pay.

Grievance Processing: Employees or their representatives will have 10 days (increased from 8) to meet with the immediate supervisor to discuss a grievance, and 30 days (increased from 20) to file a grievance.

Steward Leave: A steward will not be released on paid leave to represent an employee in a court that is not the steward’s home court.

Applications and more information are available on the Court’s website. Applications and any other requested documents must be submitted to the Court by June 20, 2013 at 11:00 p.m.

Applicants are eligible for up to $500.

The deadline is June 30, 2013.

Graduating high school seniors entering college in the fall are given first preference. Current college undergraduates who have not previously applied for one of our grants, and who are dependent family members of any Pacific Media Workers Guild unit member will also be considered.

Selection criteria: academic achievements, work experience, community involvement activities, educational plans, financial need and hardship consideration.

The Guild’s scholarship program is financed mainly by generous contributions from our Retiree Unit members.

Read the flyer here. Contact Margo Brenes at the Guild office for more information.

CFI is a unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild.

During the meeting, members moved to count all votes, whether done in person, by mail or email. The Bargaining Committee agreed that all members’ participation is essential and approved to count votes received by midnight June 22.

Directions to vote via email will be provided soon to those who were not present at the meeting. The process will include an e-ballot and secure email address.

Members who took ballots to mail in should be sure to return those by the June 22 deadline.

A committee of tellers will count all the votes following the deadline.

Saturday’s meeting was filmed for the benefit of those who could not attend. A password protected video of it will be made available to voting members soon.

As part of the investigation, DOJ Civil Rights Division attorneys detailed significant findings in a May 22 letter to the Judicial Council of California, the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Superior Court of Los Angeles County and urged the state to voluntarily implement new policies and practices that comply with federal mandates to provide meaningful language access for Limited English Proficient court users. (Read the full DOJ letter ).

California Federation of Interpreters President Michael Ferreira

“For years, Limited English Proficient individuals have been denied access to court services – particularly parties who need interpreters in civil cases – even though California courts had the interpreters and funding,” said Michael Ferreira, president of the California Federation of Interpreters, which represents court interpreters statewide. “Regrettably, the interpreter funds were continually diverted to pay for other court functions. We’re gratified to see the Department of Justice clearly identify these policies and practices as violations of federal civil rights law. It’s a significant step forward to expand language access in the courts and ensure that all court users can be treated fairly and equally under the law.”

The letter from the DOJ reports that court administrators have improperly:

• restricted certified and registered interpreter services for court users in non-criminal and non-juvenile court matters;

• failed to ensure quality interpretation services by making a “common practice” of allowing non interpreters (friends, family, witnesses, volunteers or others) to handle cases;

• failed to give court administrations clear guidance about reimbursement for language services; and

• underutilized budgeted interpreter funds and redirected them for other uses.

The letter proposes the Judicial Council and the Administrative Office of the Courts voluntarily:

• provide immediate, clear guidance to courts throughout the state that no obstacle exists to reimburse courts for interpreters, including in civil matters;

• make interpreter fee waiver forms for indigent court users available in multiple languages;

• identify a statewide language access coordinator;

• refrain from reallocating current surplus interpreter budget funds, estimated to total more than $8 million, and discontinue a practice of shifting funds from the court interpreter budget to other functions. (Read the court interpreter budget fact sheet.)

OUR POSITION

CFI agrees wholeheartedly with the Department’s findings, and supports the DOJ’s efforts to resolve these ongoing violations that result in the denial of services that are fundamental to due process and fairness in our court system. The conditions in LA courts that prompted the investigation exist in nearly all courts statewide. The ongoing inability of many courts to communicate with LEP parties is unacceptable and demands immediate relief. It is now incumbent on court administrators and the legislature to act quickly to comply with the DOJ’s recommendations.

CFI members have documented violations of fundamental rights in the courts for several years and cooperated with the DOJ in its investigation. Family members, acquaintances and even children are often called upon to assist with language services they are unqualified to provide. Court policies have contributed to this problem by denying certified interpreters to those who need them — even when certified interpreters are available onsite to do the work at no additional cost. (Read the background about Language Access in California.)

THE INVESTIGATION:

Federal officials opened their investigation in February 2011 after a complaint from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles alleged the Los Angeles Superior Court wasn’t providing meaningful access to court services, including in civil matters, to people with Limited English Proficiency. The DOJ investigation is ongoing.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires courts, which receive financial assistance from the federal government, to provide “meaningful access” through competent language services for LEP individuals. The DOJ has investigated state courts throughout the country and reached compliance agreements with several states, including Colorado and Maine. Courts that do not comply with the mandates risk losing federal funding.