NYC Lawmakers Demand LanguageLine Solutions Respects Union Organizing As Workers Take Action on Health & Safety Concerns

A unionized workforce would ensure quality interpretation services to nearly 1.79 million New Yorkers with limited English proficiency.

(NEW YORK, N.Y.) — As interpreters continue to fight for a union at LanguageLine Solutions (LLS), New York City Council members and New York City Comptroller Mark Levine call on parent company Teleperformance to respect their workers’ right to form a union and improve working conditions. Leaders of powerful council committees overseeing city contracts, workforce development, and labor stood with LLS interpreters at a press conference on the steps of City Hall to announce the formation of a new committee on health and safety and demanded that management meet to address concerns impacting their ability to provide quality interpretation services to New Yorkers.

LanguageLine Solutions serves more than 30,000 clients worldwide, including agencies within the New York City government, which total over $19.3 million in active contracts. LLS interpreters ensure fair language access via telephonic interpretation in situations that impact the health, legal rights, and finances of approximately 1.79 million New Yorkers with limited English proficiency (LEP).

Despite their essential work, interpreters face stressful working conditions, inadequate training, and low pay. According to a survey of LLS employees conducted by CWA, over 80 percent of respondents felt their ability to interpret well is impacted negatively by company policies that pressure interpreters to take calls back-to-back, and a majority of workers report gaps in medical and legal training. These unfair working conditions result in high employee turnover, which places at risk the quality of service they are able to provide to New York City’s immigrant communities.

“As interpreters, we are the voice of New Yorkers in their most important moments—in hospitals and courtrooms, accessing city services, financial services, or even calling 911,” said Yuliia Moshkova, Russian interpreter at LanguageLine Solutions. “Our working conditions are New Yorkers’ service conditions, and we need LLS management to work with us to address health and safety issues on the job that are impacting our ability to provide quality interpretation services.”

"As a New Yorker who grew up relying on interpretation and translation services, I would not be here today without the essential services provided by the interpreters at LanguageLine Solutions," said Council Member Julie Won. "These workers provide reliable interpretation that bridges the communication gap between patients and doctors, families and services, people and justice. It is heartbreaking to hear from our interpreters today about horrid pay and terrible working conditions. The City has allocated millions to interpretation services, and so there is no other choice but to listen to these workers and support their right to organize."

"The hundreds of languages spoken across the five boroughs every day are what make New York City such a special place," said City Comptroller Mark Levine. "Many of these New Yorkers rely on the LanguageLine interpreters, who ensure that no matter what you speak, you can understand the city services available to you. Our interpreters deserve better pay and conditions to carry out this vital civil service, and I am proud to stand with them in this fight."

"Interpreters at LanguageLine Solutions have reported meager wages, inadequate training, and impossibly short break times,” said Assistant to the Vice President of CWA District 1 Billy Gallagher. “These interpreters are fighting for a union to improve conditions not only for themselves but for everyone who depends on them. CWA will fight alongside these workers every step of the way until LanguageLine Solutions does the right thing and respects these workers' right to organize."

“Interpretation service workers are vital for the well-being of our city. When they are overworked with few workplace protections, it makes it harder for them to do their work effectively and harms our communities in turn. I encourage the CEO of LanguageLine Solutions to hear his workers’ demands and create better conditions for all interpreters,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés.

“New Yorkers depend on interpretation services to access essential care, education, and city resources, and those services are only as strong as the workers who provide them,” said Council Member Harvey Epstein. “The reports from LanguageLine interpreters raise serious concerns about the quality and reliability of these critical services: unsustainable workloads, inadequate training, and insufficient pay. LanguageLine Solutions must work collaboratively with its workforce to ensure fair conditions, stability, and dignity on the job. Doing so is not only the right thing for workers, but essential to delivering the high-quality services that millions of New Yorkers rely on every day.”

A subsidiary of French multinational Teleperformance, LLS is party to the Teleperformance-UNI Global Agreement on Social Responsibility, which affords workers the right to organize a union free of management interference and intimidation. While LLS has implemented this agreement in other countries, the company is refusing to fully implement the agreement in the United States. Workers under this agreement are afforded the right to have elected representatives in a Health and Safety Committee that meets with management to address concerns. LanguageLine Solutions workers have formed such a committee and are ready to meet with Teleperformance management to resolve issues affecting their physical and mental health on the job.

With vital services to millions of New Yorkers at stake, the New York City Council is escalating its demands for Teleperformance to improve working conditions and recognize the interpreters’ right to organize a union. Previously, the City Council and former Comptroller Brad Lander sent a letter to Teleperformance leadership. In today’s press conference, members of the Council and other elected officials stood shoulder-to-shoulder with workers to repeat their demands, including Councilmember and Chair of the Workforce Development Committee Julie Won, Councilmember and Chair of the Contracts Committee Lincoln Rester, Councilmember and Chair of the Labor Committee Shirley Aldebol, Councilmember Alexa Avilés, Comptroller Mark Levine, and Brad Lander.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

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