(C) Minnesota Reformer
This story was originally published by Minnesota Reformer and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Minnesota contracted court interpreters plan strike over new pay rates [1]
['Max Nesterak', 'More From Author', '- January']
Date: 2024-01-03
Scores of court interpreters across Minnesota could strike next week over the state’s new pay rates in a rare coordinated labor protest by non-union, independent contractors that threatens to gum up the gears of justice.
The Minnesota court system relies on a roster of independent interpreters fluent in Spanish, Somali, American Sign Language and a host of other languages in order to uphold the state law entitling all court participants with limited English or hearing ability to interpreters at no cost.
While demand for skilled interpreters continues to grow, their wages have shrunk relative to inflation. In 1997, certified court interpreters earned $50 an hour. Today, they earn $56 an hour.
Language interpreters will receive a 16% boost on Jan. 8 when new pay rates take effect, bringing them to $65 an hour. But interpreters point out that if their 1997 wages kept up with inflation, they’d be earning more than $96 an hour today.
Three court certified interpreters spoke to the Reformer on the condition of anonymity for fear of being “blacklisted” by the courts — as independent contractors, they don’t have the same protections from retaliation as employees.
Unless the courts increase their compensation, they say upwards of 80 interpreters could begin refusing assignments indefinitely on Jan. 8 in what they believe would be an unprecedented labor protest for Minnesota interpreters.
“People are really scared, but there also is a lot of drive to finally take a stand,” said one Spanish interpreter, who has been court certified for over a decade.
Interpreters say they don’t plan to walk a picket line like traditional strikes, but will decline work from the courts with a standard email detailing their complaints over pay.
A spokesman for the Minnesota Judicial Branch declined to comment, saying they want to engage with the interpreters before speaking to the media.
Darcy Sherman, a public defender in Hennepin County, said she won’t be able to represent clients who don’t speak English if the contract interpreters strike.
“I can’t do my job, I can’t make sure my client understands what is happening to them and that they’re able to participate fully, if I don’t have a really good interpreter,” Sherman said.
In June, court interpreters urged the courts to increase their pay to match inflation during a public comment period on new interpreter policies.
Interpreters also say they aren’t offered fair compensation for travel and short hearings. Under the new pay rates, interpreters will no longer be paid for travel time to court if it’s more than 35 miles away. Instead, they will be reimbursed for mileage at the federal reimbursement rate.
The interpreters who spoke to the Reformer said they believe the court should pay them for both their time and mileage expenses when traveling long distances.
One interpreter based in greater Minnesota said it’s common to have to drive two or more hours each way for in-person hearings. When those hearings are brief, they may only be paid for several hours of work even though they must block out an entire day and are unable to accept other jobs.
During the pandemic, interpreters saw a pay bump when a previously seldom-used remote pay rate of $145 per hour kicked in. But under the new pay rates, remote and in-person interpreters will earn the same rate. Certified deaf interpreters, whose wages increased to $93 an hour during the pandemic, will see their rates decline to the pre-pandemic rate of $86 per hour.
Minnesota courts also employ staff interpreters, although their jobs are hardly coveted. One contract interpreter said she left her staff job in part due to low pay and an unmanageable workload, exacerbated by a dearth of contract interpreters willing to take in-person assignments.
“We were getting bombarded as staff because no one was showing up,” she said.
The work stoppage threat by court interpreters comes on the heels of unrest among the state’s unionized public defenders and support staff, who threatened to strike in 2022 and won pay raises of as much as 72% the following year.
“We’re really hoping that we don’t even have to go to a stoppage. We’re hoping that … the court administrator reaches out to us and wants to sit down and come to some sort of agreement. None of us are holding our breath,” an interpreter said.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/01/03/minnesota-contracted-court-interpreters-plan-strike-over-new-pay-rates/
Published and (C) by Minnesota Reformer
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/MnReformer/
