Interpreters United/ Language Access Providers
Our 2023-25 Contract is Funded!
This is a summary that highlights and explains the most significant provisions of the Interest Arbitration Award covering the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) Language Access Providers (Interpreters United Local 1671) bargaining unit. It does not cover every article or every provision.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Effective July 1, 2023, the base wage rate will be increased by 6.0 percent to $46.09 per hour.
- Effective July 1, 2024, the base wage rate will be increased by 3.0 percent to $47.47 per hour.
- Effective July 1, 2023, block appointments will be paid at $32.86 per hour.
- Effective July 1, 2024, block appointments will be paid $33.85 per hour.
- Effective July 1, 2023, OPI services will be paid at $0.66 per minute.
- Effective July 1, 2024, OPI services will be paid at $0.68 per minute.
- Effective July 1, 2023, VRI services will be paid at $3.18 per minute for the first 10 minutes and $0.64 per minute thereafter.
- Effective July 1, 2024, VRI services will be paid at $3.28 minute for the first ten minutes and $0.66 per minute thereafter.
- No-Shows and Cancellations – The contract language in Section 6.5 of the contract will remain the same.
2023-2025 Contract Bargaining Team
Group 1: Irma Briseno-Marin
Group 3: Barbara Robertson
Group 4: Ileana Austin & Helen Eby
Group 7: Olesia Letts
Group 8: Arnulfo Ramirez
Group 9: Quan Tran & Masuood Muhammed
Appointed: Norma Verduzco
September 2, 2022, Bargaining Update
Access to healthcare and social services in one’s own language should be a priority. Interpreters deserve fair wages for providing language access!
Your Interpreters United (WFSE) Local 1671 bargaining team has been hard at work negotiating our 2023-2025 DSHS/DCYF/HCA contract.
This year has been a very different and much harder journey than what has taken place in the past. Your bargaining team has put in an enormous amount of time and energy in order to prepare and negotiate the very best contract possible.
After several meetings devoted to training and drafting contract proposals, we began meeting with the state. Your member-elected bargaining team, which is made up of interpreters, voted on all contract proposals and the language used in those proposals.
Contract Goes to Arbitration
For the first time in our history, the State and Interpreters United (WFSE) were not able to come to a mutually agreed upon contract.
Your bargaining team said no to a number of items the State proposed which would have negative outcomes and unacceptable consequences for interpreters.
Unsurprisingly, Article 6, economic compensation, was the most controversial contract article. By mid-August there was still no agreement on numerous articles and therefore both parties were ordered to go to mediation. No agreement was reached at the August 16th mediation because the state’s proposal would have eliminated important gains in compensation that have been in our contract since 2011.
Thankfully, our contract allows us to go to a neutral third party, called an arbitrator, who resolves the disagreement between us and the State.
Among the 46,000+ workers represented by WFSE, only interpreters and workers at the Department of Corrections have this right. Accordingly, we went into arbitration on August 24 and 25.
What is Arbitration?
In arbitration, an impartial arbitrator weighs evidence and arguments presented by both parties to amend the current collective bargaining agreement (union contract).
After going to arbitration on August 24 and 25, the decision on what will be in the contract now rests in the hands of the arbitrator. We expect to have a decision by late September.
Remain Union Strong!
The pandemic has been hard on interpreters. It disrupted our normal patterns of interpreting. Those disruptions continue, unfortunately. Despite such challenges, we are still fighting to improve the lives of interpreters. This fight is not always easy as there are a number of forces beyond our control that want to constrain us and prevent us from reaching our goal of prosperity for interpreters.
But here’s the good news; there is tremendous strength in standing united and pushing back as a unified force. It is our solidarity as a union and our relentless activism that will win improvements for interpreters. That has always been the case. We must remain UNION STRONG!
Your Interpreter Bargaining Team
June 29, 2022 Bargaining Update
The Interpreters United Collective Bargaining Team (for interpreters taking DCYF, DSHS & HCA appointments) has started its negotiations with the State’s bargaining team. We are working on the contract that will start in July 2023 and continue to the end of June 2025. You can find our current contract here.Our financial goals
First and foremost, we know interpreting services are unique, as part of our funding comes from federal dollars. We are acutely aware of the economic challenges we are all facing, be it skyrocketing fuel prices or inflation the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades. Interpreters need our rate of pay to keep up with rising costs and provide adequately for our families. After doing significant research on the market value of interpreting, we are seeking higher hourly rates for in-person and remote appointments that go over and above inflation and other rising costs that reflect the professional services we provide to vulnerable members of our communities.
Secondly, members of the bargaining team have put in many, many hours and a huge amount of effort in order to present a health care plan to the State. It has taken time to find a path that is open to us. The State has a lot of experience with providing health care for its employees but as we are independent contractors, we have had to find another pathway to provide health care for our interpreters who are currently paying for their own insurance. We want to see affordable health care be made available to as many of our members who need it. We believe that what we are proposing will be satisfactory and workable for both sides of the bargaining table and in the end will bring relief to those who are struggling with health insurance costs.
Third, we want to see payment for mileage, especially since all of us are suffering from unprecedented gas prices. We have had a mileage pilot program in the past and are confident that with the information gathered from that pilot, we can predict what the cost to the State could be for interpreters to be reimbursed for miles driven within State agreed upon perimeters.
Furthermore, we are well aware that LLD (Languages of Low Demand - languages that receive less than 200 requests per month) fill rates are low. One reason is the distances an interpreter must travel in order to service the job, and that cost may be more than what the job itself pays. So we are taking significant steps to help ease this ongoing burden our LLD interpreters face.
We are paying close attention to the over-the-phone and video-remote interpreting (OPI/VRI) portion of our contract. In the past, there were so few requests for jobs in that category (around 800 annually) that it was not a contract item that drew a lot of attention. As we all know, that changed dramatically with the pandemic and is now a point of intense interest for interpreters. We have spent a good deal of time discussing how to strategically position ourselves in order to get the best pay for those jobs. We will present our position to the State and work diligently to see it come to fruition.
The contract negotiation process
As of this writing, we have presented a large portion of our proposals to the State, although not the complete package. We have also come to some tentative agreements on a number of the items that see little change from contract cycle to contract cycle. The State then has an opportunity to ask clarifying questions about our proposals and to make counter proposals of their own. This is a very methodical but strategic dance that is taking place between the two sides. It is a process that is conducted with patience, courage, wisdom, and determination.
Our bargaining team
In this bargaining cycle, we are in the experienced hands of WFSE staff member Kurt Spiegel, a seasoned negotiator, along with his fellow staff member, Jason Holland. The ten Interpreters United members of the bargaining team are an even split between being experienced and being new to the bargaining process. Some of our team members have gone through numerous rounds of negotiations. For others, this is their very first time. That is not to say, however, that the new members don’t bring vast and valuable knowledge and experience to our team. The very opposite is the case! Additionally, it is always good practice to have new people learning the bargaining process alongside those who have gone through at least one round, and for some team members numerous rounds, of collective bargaining.
One thing every member of this team has is passion - passion to see more prosperity for all interpreters covered by this contract. We know that there is strength in unity and our unity brings us hope for a brighter future.
We, as union members, all work together to lift one another up, to strengthen one another and to strive for the betterment of all!
How you can help:
.png)
- Share Bargaining Updates with Fellow Interpreters
Let your fellow interpreters know they can see progress about contract negotiations here: https://www.wfse.org/community-college-coalition-bargaining-updates.
- Share a Picture & Quote to Support Your Bargaining Team
Share why interpreters deserve a strong contract here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/c28quote. Bonus points if you're wearing WFSE Green!
Previous Cycle Final Bargaining Update-October 1, 2021
What we secured: A $1.04 increase to the hourly rate for interpreters. The current hourly rate is $42.44/hr. and the new rate would be $43.48/hr.
Download the tentative agreement. (PDF Download) See highlighted text for changes. This TA is an amendment to an existing contract article.
A special thank you goes out to staff and members on the bargaining team who worked tirelessly to negotiate this agreement.