The walkout could delay cases involving Spanish speakers and other people who need language assistance, according to reporting cited by the union. Defense attorney Jennie Stepanian said trained interpreters are essential to ensuring clients can participate in a fair trial, particularly given the large number of Spanish-speaking clients in San Francisco’s criminal courts.

The courts employ 21 full-time criminal-court interpreters in San Francisco: 16 certified in Spanish and five covering Hindi, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean and Russian. The union says the state’s full-time interpreter workforce has fallen by more than 40% over the past decade, in part because of low wages. It also says courts have had to rely on non-union contractors, who can be paid twice as much as full-time interpreters but receive no benefits.

The union is seeking pay closer to that of federal court interpreters, who it says earn more than 35% higher salaries. It also opposes increased reliance on remote interpretation, arguing that video or phone services can make it harder for people in criminal cases to communicate privately with their attorneys when an in-person interpreter is unavailable.

Mary Lou Aranguren, who is leading the union’s negotiations, said the dispute reflects decades of neglect in interpreter compensation and workforce development. The union represents full-time interpreters in the Region 2 state courts, including San Francisco and neighboring Bay Area counties, as well as counties elsewhere in Northern and Central California.

A spokesperson for the Region 2 Superior Courts said the courts remain committed to reaching a fair agreement and proposed mediation to address differences over wages and other contract issues.