7th March 2017
Justice secretary urged to investigate contracts
for interpreting firms
Justice secretary Liz Truss has been urged to review how vital interpreter
contracts are awarded and how they operate, following reports that Pearl
Linguistics has gone into liquidation.
Unite, the country’s largest union, is concerned that there is ‘a race
to the bottom’ in an outsourcing contract culture that is adversely affecting
those who require interpreting services when using the NHS or appearing in
court.
Unite regional officer Andy Murray said: “What we have here is an
example of a company, Pearl Linguistics that has gone into liquidation because,
it appears, it was unable to operate in a contract culture even when
underpinned by depressed wages.
“The cost-cutting across the sector is driving highly competent
interpreters away from the profession as they can’t afford to live on the wages
on offer.
“The people that are going to suffer are those needing assistance when
going to NHS appointments and those appearing in court.”
Unite, which embraces the National Union of British Sign Language
Interpreters (NUBSLI), said that interpreters, skilled in difficult languages
and dialects, were being paid as little as £12-an-hour, while the NUBSLI recommended
freelance rates for fully qualified interpreters in London are £260-a-day.
Unite has been taking legal advice about the possibility that
interpreting agencies are abusing their dominant position in the marketplace.
Andy Murray added: “The government has an obsession, bordering on
mania, with outsourcing to private companies what should be publicly-run
services.
“These companies promise that they will make the contract run more
smoothly while implementing so-called ‘efficiency savings’ – but the biggest
cost element is staff wages and these are then slashed
“Unite is calling on justice secretary Liz Truss to review the
outsourcing of interpreter contacts, so that a first class service is delivered
to often vulnerable clients, without a race to the bottom when it comes to
wages, and terms and conditions for those providing these specialist skills.
“We are currently taking legal advice relating to the dominant position
that these firms currently enjoy.”
No comments:
Post a Comment