{"id":2430,"date":"2014-12-09T17:36:41","date_gmt":"2014-12-09T17:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2430"},"modified":"2014-12-09T17:36:41","modified_gmt":"2014-12-09T17:36:41","slug":"minimum-fees-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2430","title":{"rendered":"Minimum fees call"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>As with almost all workers providing an essential public service, British Sign Language\/English interpreters have seen their pay massively eroded following the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s public sector funding squeeze and privatisation agenda.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nThe National Union of British Sign Language Interpreters (NUBSLI), a part of Unite, has called for a minimum fees structure to combat interpreters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 unremitting pay erosion, which has seen pay rates fall by approximately 12 per cent since the coalition government came to power in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nNUBSLI branch secretary Nicky Evans said the situation for the deaf community has become increasingly dire.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe drive to cut costs at any cost is setting back the incredible strides made by the deaf community over the past 30 years,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Evans said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe believe that some contracts are being awarded at levels so low that the provision of services can only be offered by persons with low level language qualifications and no interpreting skills.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOver the last few years there has been less work available for our members indicating that deaf people are losing out on access whether at work or in other areas of their lives,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Evans added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is completely unacceptable.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nNUBSLI has called on the government to support a minimum fees structure, which is laid out in detail <a href=\"http:\/\/nubsli.com\/interpreter-fees.php\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Evans explained the importance of having minimum fees in place.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNUBSLI believes that the introduction of a minimum fees structure will go some way to protecting not only our members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 livelihoods but a profession that is a lifeline to the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s deaf community,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Evans said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government needs to recognise the far reaching implications of its damaging public sector spending cuts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bDeaf people are losing out. The very future of the interpreting profession is at risk. It will be impossible to maintain the profession\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commitment to high standards and ethics if terms and rates of pay continue to be slashed.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nNUBSLI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 200 members provide interpreting services for deaf people in all areas, including in court and television. They are employed by agencies such as the police and local authorities, which are each facing enormous budget cuts of their own.<br \/>\nNUBSLI, which was established in May of this year, is Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastest growing branch, representing 20 per cent of the BSL interpreting profession.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As with almost all workers providing an essential public service, British Sign Language\/English interpreters have seen their pay massively eroded following the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s public sector funding squeeze and privatisation agenda. &nbsp; The National Union of British Sign Language Interpreters (NUBSLI), a part of Unite, has called for a minimum fees structure to combat interpreters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 unremitting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[183,182,184],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2430"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2432,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430\/revisions\/2432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}