Seeking to unionize, sign language interpreters need the support of Minnesota officials

The Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing communities depend on Video Relay Service, an essential platform that ensures equal access to telecommunications services. Every American with a phone bill pays to support VRS. Unfortunately, big corporate firms have captured VRS — and as a result, VRS interpreters are organizing to improve declining working conditions and better serve the Deaf community.

I’ve been a sign language interpreter for five years. I decided to become an interpreter because sign language made sense to me. Interpreting gave me a glimpse into the Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing communities in many different fields, while getting the opportunity to help and serve the community.

While VRS provides an essential service, unfortunately, private corporations and investment firms have taken it over, and are extracting profit while doing little in the way of increasing the quality of service. Increased quality of service means more support for interpreters and better occupational safety and health on the job.

Minnesota can play a critical role in solving the problems facing VRS. The Minnesota State Board of Investment (MSBI) has nearly $400 million invested with Ariel Investments, the Chicago-based parent company of Sorenson — the only significant employer of VRS interpreters in the state. The MSBI has four members: Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Secretary of State Steve Simon and State Auditor Julie Blaha. 

While the MSBI does not have a direct stake in Sorenson, its significant stake in Ariel means the board can help interpreters win our union. As President Donald Trump decimates the National Labor Relations Board, and recent court decisions threaten the NLRB’s very existence, the MSBI can take a major step forward by conditioning their ongoing investments with Ariel on coming to an agreement with our union. By unionizing, we are seeking to make VRS better by having highly qualified and trained interpreters and ongoing and contractually mandated meaningful engagement with the communities we serve.

I got into VRS because it exposes interpreters to many different signing styles, which can help expand our vocabulary and improve our skills. By working VRS, you really get to see American Sign Language as a whole entity, and you recognize how much diversity there is within it. It looks so different from person to person, and you get so many different life experiences all within one space.

You get to work with all of these skilled interpreters that have so many tools to help manage the space. Interpreters get the opportunity to match up with different Deaf people and help them get what they need — sometimes support, sometimes advocacy, sometimes just saying “Hi” and helping them with their phone call. That’s the coolest part of VRS — the variety that you find within it.

Due to profiteering off of what should be a public service, VRS is physically demanding. I know numerous people that feel like their body is almost atrophying while they are doing the work. There’s the constant stress of managing the personalities of people all over the United States and Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile, we live in a society where Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind people are routinely denied access and discriminated against just because of who they are — that means that there are many calls where people are doing their best to advocate for themselves in a system that is stacked against them. We can’t control the attitude of a caller; if they’re coming in mad and hot, you can’t temper that flame, you have to express that while not taking on any of the heat as something that’s personal. That can be hard.

In between calls, we know we’re not getting enough time off to be able to charge up and go to the next call with the energy that we need. Our cortisol levels are going to spike up and down, which requires a lot of recovery time.

We are coming together because we know that only by organizing can we ensure that Deaf interpreters — who have advanced fluency in the language and can help hearing interpreters like myself navigate complex interpreting situations — are on the phones at all times. Deaf interpreters are essential to our work in making sure that we have access across the board. And by organizing we know that we can improve the working conditions for interpreters and, as a result, the telecommunications conditions for the people we serve.

We urge the MSBI to immediately meet with our growing group of interpreters and condition their investment with Ariel on helping to improve the quality of VRS for Minnesotans —which means helping us win our union.

Joe Klug is an ASL interpreter in Minneapolis.

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