It does not fall within the mission of RID or its affiliates to form or to facilitate the formation of a union to collectively bargain with employers on behalf of employees who are RID members with respect to their terms and conditions of employment. Interpreters who are members of RID may, obviously, choose to participate in their individual capacities as employees in a collective bargaining process with their employers through a union. As previously noted, there is an exception in antitrust laws that allows a group of employees, through their union, to collectively bargain with their employer. Also, it is worth noting in this context that many RID members are interpreters who are independent/freelance contractors who do not have an employee-employer relationship with the entities that contract with them..
RID’s purpose is to serve equally our members, profession, and the public by promoting and advocating for qualified and effective interpreters in all spaces where intersectional diverse Deaf lives are impacted.