News

We are thrilled to announce that our union bargaining team is back to contract negotiations with the State of Oregon!

Health Care Interpreters work every day to help people in our communities get the care they need.

Our nation’s behavioral and mental health workers have helped families and communities deal with every imaginable crisis, including the opioid crisis, gun violence, homelessness and the coronavirus pandemic. But for far too long, their work has not been fully appreciated.

The State of Oregon on April 23 recognized a union for as many as 500 medical interpreters who translate for Medicaid patients who don’t speak English.

Because the interpreters are independent contractors, they wouldn’t normally have a legal process to unionize, except that Oregon AFSCME helped pass a bill in 2019, HB 2231, that made unionization possible. Under the law, interpreters who are hired through a registry maintained by the Oregon Health Authority can unionize.