Spanish-Language Adaptation
Spanish-Language Adaptation
How the campaign reaches Spanish-speaking workers and their families
Prepared for: Communications director + bilingual campaign coordinator Status: Implementation guide for all worker-facing materials and operations. Scope: Spanish-language adaptation; same framework applies to other languages with regional concentration (Vietnamese, Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, where relevant — verify locally).
PART 1 — Read This First
A campaign that does not reach the Spanish-speaking workers in its target workforce is a campaign that has decided, in practice, that those workers do not count. The decision is usually unconscious — communications staff design materials in English, translators are added later as a budget afterthought, and the result is a parallel set of inferior assets that no one trusts.
This document corrects that posture. Three operating principles:
1. Translate the strategy, not just the words. The Spanish-language track is not “the English campaign in Spanish.” It is its own campaign, with its own channels, its own cultural touchpoints, its own messengers, its own consent norms, and its own measurement. The shared substance is the wage gap, the Bridge Fund, the federal compliance posture. The execution is regionally and culturally specific.
2. Hire a bilingual coordinator — not a contract translator. The single highest-leverage decision in this track is hiring a bilingual campaign coordinator whose first language is Spanish, who has organizing experience, and who has authority over the Spanish-language track on equal footing with the English track. A contract translator at $0.15/word produces grammatically-correct text that workers do not trust. A coordinator produces a campaign.
3. The same confidentiality, the same Bridge Fund, the same protections. Every protection, benefit, and commitment available to English-speaking workers is available to Spanish-speaking workers identically. The only thing that differs is the language and the channels.
PART 2 — Bilingual Coordinator Role
This is a full-time, senior position, reporting directly to the campaign communications director. Profile:
- Native or near-native Spanish fluency, with regional familiarity (Mexican Spanish for most of the St. Louis-region workforce; Puerto Rican, Central American, or other variants as the workforce data warrants)
- Bilingual fluency in English at professional level
- Prior labor organizing or worker-center experience preferred; community organizing acceptable
- Comfortable on camera and on radio (Spanish-language media exposure is part of the role)
- Member of the campaign coordinating committee at equal footing with other senior staff
- Compensation at the same level as the communications director and the organizing director
Reports to: Communications director. Collaborates closely with: Organizing director, Bridge Fund coordinator, lead investigators. Authority: Final approval on every Spanish-language asset before publication. Final approval on Spanish-language press relationships.
PART 3 — Translation and Cultural Adaptation Principles
A. The “two-pass” rule
Every translated asset goes through two passes:
Pass 1 — Linguistic. Translation by the bilingual coordinator or a contracted professional translator with construction-industry vocabulary experience. Pass 1 ensures linguistic accuracy.
Pass 2 — Cultural. Review by a community member who reflects the target audience (a Spanish-speaking working electrician, a Spanish-speaking spouse, a Spanish-speaking pastor or community leader). Pass 2 ensures the translated material sounds like something a real person would say, not like translated English.
Materials that fail Pass 2 are revised, not shipped. The campaign does not publish assets that sound translated.
B. The Spanish-specific framings
Some campaign concepts translate directly. Others require reframing:
- “Area standard” → “el sueldo estándar de la zona” — but workers often respond better to “lo que paga el oficio” (what the trade pays). Use the latter in worker-facing materials.
- “Substandard agreement” → “contrato por debajo del estándar” is technically correct but reads like translation. “Contrato que paga menos de lo justo” (contract that pays less than fair) is plain, accurate, and clear.
- “Bridge Fund” → “Fondo de Transición” works; alternatively “Fondo para el cambio” (fund for the change) is plainer.
- “Union solidarity” → translate carefully. In some Spanish-speaking communities, “sindicato” carries political weight that the English word “union” does not. The campaign’s coordinator calibrates which framing fits each context.
- “Confidential” → “confidencial” is fine, but the assurance lands more clearly with concrete commitments: “Nadie en su trabajo será notificado” (no one at your job will be notified).
C. The names question
Many Latino workers in the regional electrical workforce have last names the dominant culture mispronounces or misspells. The campaign’s discipline:
- Every Spanish-speaking worker featured publicly has their name spelled and pronounced correctly, every time, in every asset.
- Phonetic guides are produced for any English-speaking spokesperson or interviewer.
- Worker names are not Anglicized for English-speaking media audiences without the worker’s explicit consent.
D. The honorific question
Spanish-speaking workers and family members may expect more formal address than English-speaking workers do. The campaign’s discipline:
- Use Don / Doña with first names in initial contacts and printed materials.
- Use usted (formal “you”) unless the worker invites informal address.
- Mr. / Mrs. usage in English-language assets featuring Spanish-speaking workers, unless they prefer otherwise.
PART 4 — Asset Adaptation
Each English-language campaign asset has a Spanish-language counterpart, produced under the two-pass rule.
A. Intake landing page
Adaptation: Full Spanish translation of every element of the intake landing page, with a clearly visible language toggle in the header.
URL: Either a path-based variant (respectthecraft.org/es) or a separate domain (respetaeloficio.org) — the coordinator decides based on SEO and audience access patterns.
Phone line: A dedicated Spanish-language phone option in the IVR menu, with a Spanish-speaking coordinator answering. Not an English-speaking coordinator with a translation service. The first impression matters.
Form fields: Translated; with the additional voluntary field “Idioma preferido” (preferred language) so that follow-up coordinator language matches.
Privacy notice: Full Spanish translation, reviewed by privacy counsel familiar with bilingual legal disclosure conventions.
B. Direct-mail piece
Adaptation: Spanish-language version of the variable-data personalized mailer, with the same household-decision-maker framing.
Cultural framing:
- The mailer leans more on family obligation than the English version. “Esto es por su familia” (this is for your family) is a recurring frame.
- The pension comparison is foregrounded more heavily; multi-generational financial planning is a stronger cultural touchpoint for many Latino households than for the average English-speaking household.
- The mailer’s outer envelope teaser is in both Spanish and English on bilingual households’ versions: “Una estimación personalizada de su retiro / A personal estimate of your retirement.”
Recipient list: Identified through Spanish-surname analysis of the campaign’s full mailing list, supplemented by Spanish-speaking community-organization referrals where available.
Production: Variable data printing supports Spanish characters with proper accents. Verify with print vendor before production.
C. Leaflets (jobsite and public)
Adaptation: Full Spanish version of every leaflet, printed back-to-back where possible (English on one side, Spanish on the other) for bilingual jobsites.
Distribution: Bilingual leaflets at every action; Spanish-only leaflets where the audience is overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking.
D. Geofence and digital ads
Adaptation: Separate Spanish-language ad creative — not subtitled English ads. Run on:
- Spanish-language YouTube (TKtok creators with Spanish-speaking trades content)
- Univision and Telemundo affiliates’ streaming properties
- Spanish-language Facebook and Instagram audiences
Geofences: Same physical fences as English-language ads, with audience targeting layered to serve Spanish-language creative to devices with Spanish-language settings.
E. Broadcast spots
Adaptation: Original Spanish-language production, not dubbed English spots. See broadcast_spots.md; each of the three core spots (The Number, Two Doors, Respect the Crafts) has a Spanish-language counterpart, produced with Spanish-speaking workers and family members.
Spanish-language media buy:
- Spanish-language radio in drive time (KXEN-FM, regional Spanish-language affiliates)
- Univision and Telemundo local affiliates
- Spanish-language streaming audio (Pandora’s Spanish-language stations, Spotify’s Latin music audiences)
F. Press kit
Adaptation: Bilingual versions of the press kit available to Spanish-language press.
Spanish-language press relationships:
- La Crónica, Red Latina (regional Spanish-language papers)
- Univision and Telemundo local news desks
- Spanish-language podcast and YouTube creators with labor or working-class focus
- National Spanish-language outlets: Telemundo News, Univision News, Noticias Univision, EFE, Reuters Spanish service
G. Documentary
Adaptation: Closed-caption Spanish subtitles for the documentary. A separate Spanish-language theatrical and streaming distribution plan, with festival submissions to Latino-focused festivals (HBO Latino, Cine Las Americas, etc.).
Cultural consultation: A Spanish-speaking consulting producer reviews the documentary’s worker storylines for cultural authenticity in any sequence featuring Spanish-speaking workers or family members.
H. All other assets
The campaign’s discipline: every asset that touches a worker, member, or household has a Spanish-language version produced under the two-pass rule. No exceptions. Skipping the Spanish version of any asset signals that the campaign considers Spanish-speaking workers a secondary audience.
PART 5 — Spanish-Language Channels
A. Community partnerships
The Spanish-language track lives in places the English track does not reach:
Catholic parishes with Spanish-language mass:
- Identify the priests and lay leaders.
- Brief them on the campaign substance.
- Offer informational presence at parish events with their permission.
- Many Latino working-class households’ most trusted institution is their parish; respect that.
Latino community organizations:
- Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Casa de Salud
- St. Louis Hispanic Leaders Group
- Migrant and refugee resettlement organizations
- Latino worker centers and immigrant rights groups
Spanish-language schools and adult education programs:
- ESL programs at community colleges
- Bilingual K-12 schools with active parent communities
- Adult workforce development programs
Cultural events:
- Cinco de Mayo, Mexican Independence Day, Hispanic Heritage Month
- Local Latino festivals and street fairs
- Soccer leagues (huge in the regional working-class Latino community)
B. Latino media
Print: La Crónica, Red Latina, El Mundo Latino — relationships built with editors and reporters who cover labor and community issues.
Broadcast: Univision and Telemundo local news; Spanish-language radio (KXEN-FM and regional affiliates).
Digital: Spanish-language Facebook groups (regional in nature); WhatsApp groups (used heavily in the Latino working-class community for information sharing); Spanish-language podcasts.
C. Direct outreach
House visits: Coordinated with the bilingual coordinator. The first conversation is in the language of the worker’s choice.
Phone calls: Spanish-speaking coordinator handles all calls to Spanish-preferred households.
Text outreach: Spanish-language SMS to opted-in contacts, with the same response-time SLA as English.
PART 6 — Specific Cultural Touchpoints
A. Family-first framing
Many Latino working-class households make major financial decisions as multi-generational family decisions. The campaign’s Spanish-language materials emphasize:
- Provision for parents (especially mothers) in retirement
- Education funds for children
- Sending money home to family in country of origin (where relevant)
- Multi-generational wealth-building
The Spanish-language pension projection on the personalized mailer often resonates more strongly than the wage comparison precisely because of this framing.
B. Documentation status
Some Spanish-speaking workers in the regional construction workforce may have complicated documentation status. The campaign’s posture:
- No questions about immigration status. Ever. The campaign does not ask, does not record, does not retain any information that could put a worker at risk.
- All benefits are available regardless of documentation status where law permits. Some benefits (specific tax-advantaged retirement accounts) may have legal eligibility requirements; the campaign helps workers understand what is and is not available without judgment.
- No coordination with immigration enforcement. This is a written, public commitment. The campaign would never share any worker information with ICE, CBP, or any immigration authority. Period.
- Materials in Spanish are reviewed for any language that could be perceived as a threat to workers without documentation. Anti-retaliation provisions, federal complaint processes, legal aid resources all reviewed through this lens.
C. Trust-building cadence
Spanish-speaking workers, especially those with less prior union exposure or with concerns about institutional trust, may need a longer trust-building cadence than the English-language playbook assumes:
- More initial conversations before the wage comparison comes out
- More in-person contact and less phone/text
- More involvement of the worker’s chosen community institutions (parish, family, employer relationships) where appropriate
- More patience with timeline
The bilingual coordinator calibrates this for each worker.
D. Mixed-status households
Households where some members are documented and some are not are common in the regional Latino workforce. The campaign’s approach:
- Outreach is structured to be useful to whichever household member is best positioned to engage
- Bridge Fund benefits flow to the worker, who decides how to share or use them within their household
- Any concerns about documentation status across the household are handled with the same confidentiality and care as the worker’s own
PART 7 — Spanish-Language Worker Stories
The campaign’s documentary, annual report, and press kit feature Spanish-speaking worker stories where consented.
A. Story production
Spanish-speaking worker stories are produced bilingually:
- The worker tells the story in their preferred language
- Captioned and translated versions are produced for the audiences appropriate to each
- The original-language version is always preserved and used where possible
- The worker reviews and approves the final cut in both languages before publication
B. The consent process
The consent process is itself in Spanish, with full understanding of how the story will be used, where it will appear, and how it can be withdrawn. The bilingual coordinator handles all consent conversations directly — never a translator at a remove.
C. Family involvement
Many Spanish-speaking workers will want family members involved in the consent decision. The campaign welcomes this; family-decision-making is honored, not worked around.
PART 8 — Measurement
The Spanish-language track has its own measurement framework, not subordinated to the English track.
| Metric | Year 1 target |
|---|---|
| Spanish-language intake submissions | 20–30% of total intake volume (in line with workforce composition) |
| Conversion rate from Spanish-language intake to verified transition | Equal to or higher than English-language rate |
| Spanish-language media placements | 12+ per quarter |
| Spanish-language community partnerships established | 8–12 |
| Bilingual ad spend | 15–25% of total paid media |
| Spanish-speaking workers in the worker-story rotation | Proportional to workforce composition |
Underperformance in the Spanish-language track triggers a structured review, not a quiet acceptance. If conversion is below the English track, the campaign committee identifies why (channel, message, coordinator capacity, trust-building cadence) and adjusts.
PART 9 — What Never to Do
- Never use a non-Latino voice actor to perform Spanish-language audio. Listeners can tell.
- Never use Google Translate or other auto-translation for any worker-facing material.
- Never publish a Spanish-language asset that has not passed the two-pass rule.
- Never ask a Spanish-speaking worker about documentation status, even by implication.
- Never use English-translated Spanish copy in materials given to Spanish-speaking households.
- Never treat the Spanish-language track as the “outreach” track and the English-language track as the “main” track. They are equal tracks of one campaign.
- Never schedule a Spanish-language event for a time that conflicts with a major Spanish-speaking community institution (Catholic mass, soccer games, specific cultural holidays). Consult the bilingual coordinator on every event date.
- Never send a Spanish-speaking worker into a press interview without a bilingual escort and pre-interview prep in their preferred language.
This document is a working guide for the Spanish-language track of the campaign. All translations, cultural adaptations, and outreach plans should be reviewed by the bilingual coordinator. The work should be staffed and resourced at the same level as the English-language track. Anything less signals priorities the campaign does not actually hold.