Your Right to Bargain Health Benefits? We Won It

Your right to bargain state funded health insurance benefits? Interpreters United (WFSE) won it.

Since the beginning, Interpreters United (WFSE) has fought for genuine fairness for ALL interpreters.

  • In 2010, we won the right for freelance interpreters to unionize, a first in the history of the United States.

  • In 2018, we successfully expanded this right to include freelance interpreters taking L&I appointments.

  • In the early days of the pandemic, we made sure that interpreters had the option to work appointments remotely, while getting in-person pay rates for remote interpreting, a benefit we had previously negotiated for represented interpreters.

But one of the accomplishments we’re proudest of?

Winning the right for ALL freelance interpreters to bargain healthcare benefits.

Even though freelance interpreters like us are exposed to diseases every day as a part of our work, we were not allowed to negotiate with the state over health insurance benefits as of 2019.

It wasn't fair, so we got to work.

Throughout the 2020 Legislative Session, Interpreters United (WFSE) members and our parent union AFSCME met with legislators, testified in Congress, and called and emailed elected officials.

We got a bill for expanded bargaining rights, including healthcare benefits, from the House to the Senate to the Governor’s desk. 

When it was signed, it gave ALL INTERPRETERS the right to bargain for State-Funded Health Insurance.

There's still more work to do It's still unfair for L&I interpreters.

Without belonging to a union, we can't negotiate with the state for health insurance or better conditions. 

By organizing for power with Interpreters United (WFSE/AFSCME), L&I interpreters will have the opportunity to negotiate for:

  • State-funded health insurance
  • Hourly minimum per appointment
  • Reimbursement for no-shows and late cancellations
  • Protections against Claw Backs
  • A voice in our profession

Help Us Form a Union for L&I Interpreters