ATA Interpreters Division

Dear Interpreters Division members,

Washington State has long been a beacon for software development and language access. Traditionally, the state has paid interpreters through language companies. To cover their costs, companies would retain about 40% of the money the state pays for interpreting services. A bill in 2010 granted freelance interpreters unionization rights for appointments paid by two Washington State agencies, DSHS and HCA. In 2011, a provision in the state budget created a new procurement model for interpreting services. Under the coordinating entity model, 1) the state pays a monthly flat fee to a language company in charge of developing and maintaining a web-based software system to schedule, invoice and process payments to interpreters while 2) the state collectively bargains with interpreters for their rates of pay.  Separating the administrative cost from the service cost results in the intermediary (the language company) keeping less than 15% of what the state spends in interpreting services.

On March 23, 2018, Governor Inslee signed Senate Bill 6245 into law, expanding the coordinating entity procurement model and unionization rights to all appointments paid by Washington State’s executive branch state agencies. The bill, which received bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House, has a fiscal note estimating a 27% decrease in the state’s expenditures for interpreting services.

You can read more here.

You can watch the video of the signing ceremony here (Starts at 20:29).

Carol Velandia
Administrator
Interpreters Division

By David Fetterolf

As healthcare facilities encounter an increasingly diverse patient population, the demand for qualified medical interpreters continues to grow. In an attempt to provide language services to all non-English speaking patients, healthcare facilities are increasingly integrating healthcare technology into their existing language access plans. Such technology includes interpreter scheduling apps, video remote interpretation, …

In this post, we are sharing Maha El-Metwally’s interview with Mr. Ian Newton, ILO Chief Interpreter. His insights offer a different look at UN interpreting, namely the extremely intricate processes involved in organizing a conference for a UN agency. His responses also touch upon his own experience as well as his opinions on the future of the profession in light of technological advancements. Settle in for an enlightening read!

Aleyna Maria Tusa, Contributing Editor

AIIC, the International Association of Conference Interpreters, is celebrating its 37th Assembly in Valencia, Spain—right now!

For those who cannot attend, watch out for tweets with the hashtag #aiicvalencia18. The conference runs from January 10-14. Many interpreter colleagues will be live-tweeting the event using this hashtag, and there’s webstreaming for AIIC members.

Update

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