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News: Census, Strike at Courts

56 Percent Speak 'Foreign' Language at Home, Court Interpreters Can't Get Pay Hike

Most LA Households Speak Something Besides English

According to U.S. Census Bureau figures released on Sept. 12, 2007, 56 percent of Los Angeles County residents speak a language other than English at home. A bureau press release that reported the number at 53 percent for L.A. misled some media outlets, since this was actually based on combined data for Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa Ana. These figures are likely to prompt further discussion about the merits of immigrants' maintaining their native languages, and of bilingual education. On Sept. 13, The Los Angeles Times reported the findings under the headline "Not at Home with English" and emphasized the linguistic isolation that exists to varying degrees among immigrant groups. However, of those 56 percent who speak a language other than English at home, 54 percent report that they speak English very well.  —Janice Kim and Ariel Slaton

Court Interpreters' Strike Ends Without Pay Hike

Oct. 17, 2007, saw between 300 and 400 interpreters return to work at courthouses in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo following their six-week strike. Members of the largely Latino California Federation of Interpreters (CFI) demanded a step salary system giving them a five percent raise each year for seven years, in line with pay increases for other court workers. As long as the strike continued, many victims and defendants would not be heard, and trials were pushed back. Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said the courts were strapped for funds, telling The Los Angeles Times: "This is not just a negotiating tactic…there is not anything else we can give them." Meanwhile, a union spokeswoman said that the strike had captured the public’s attention and that the return to work didn’t signal defeat. —Pearl Barraclough

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Date Posted: 11/5/2007