Milé kolegyně a kolegové,
níže přikládáme výzvu AIIC ohledně současných nabídek na tlumočení pro EP přes Kudo a Interactio.
| It seems that in order to undermine our industrial action, the European Parliament has started recruiting interpreters for official EP meetings through private service providers. In order to alert colleagues and the broader interpreting community to this dangerous tendency and its implications, we have drafted a text (see below) that we would ask to distribute as broadly as possible to accredited, but also non-accredited colleagues. |
| Beware: Offers via Interactio & Kudo to undermine EP’s working conditions! |
HELP US DEFEND EP-INTERPRETERS’ WORKING CONDITIONS, AND ABOVE ALL THEIR HEARING
|
| Dear colleagues and interpreting students, |
| We would like to draw your attention to an industrial dispute involving interpreters at the European Parliament. |
| Since the beginning of the pandemic, the EP has been using remote interpreting systems which do not comply with ISO sound quality standards. The consequences of this include the fact that approximately 100 out of 273 EP staff interpreters have reported hearing damage. |
| During the pandemic, our working conditions were subject to special safeguards to protect our hearing from potentially dangerous sound, including reduced duration of assignments (reduced exposure). The EP recently withdrew all these protective measures for remote meetings. This means we are now expected to work very long days in hybrid meetings, in challenging conditions with no rules to protect our hearing. |
| The Parliament is refusing to hold talks with us about the measures needed to protect our auditory health in this new environment. We are striking to force the Parliament to talk to us about the specific risk for our profession in hybrid meetings. Hearing damage is irreversible, and for interpreters, especially freelancers, our ears are our livelihood. |
| The EP is trying to undermine our industrial action by hiring interpreters to work from home (RSI), who have not been accredited, and who might have no experience of conference interpreting. This is a possible breach of the Agreement signed by the EP with AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters) which governs working conditions for conference interpreting agents (ACIs) with EP accreditation. This agreement stipulates that Parliamentary Committees may not use non-accredited interpreters for their official meetings. |
| Obviously freelance interpreters are free to accept contracts offered to them, but we want to ensure that current and future colleagues are fully aware of what is at stake. The Parliament is offering assignments via online platforms such as Interaction and Kudo, and it is not always clear that these contracts are for EP meetings. If successful, this attempt to break our strike will have detrimental consequences for the working conditions and health of the whole of our profession. If you want to support our action, and thereby your own well-being and professional future, we suggest that you enquire about the precise nature of the offer, and if it is for the European Parliament, you may wish to decline. |
| If you have any questions, feel free to contact our delegation of conference interpreting agents (ACIs) at the European Parliament at the following address: eppd@aiic.net |
| Thank you for your support. Please send this message on to any other colleagues, students and language specialists who might receive these job offers. |
| Your EP-Parliament conference interpreting agents (ACIs) |
