American sign language interpreters union alleges bad working conditions, asks the FCC to intervene

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The American Sign Language Interpreters Union (ASL) (OPEIU) held a press conference on Wednesday, February 26, in front of the Federal Communications Commission building (FCC) in Washington DC, they asked the FCC to protect the conditions of workers regulating two video retransmission service companies (VRS).

ASL translators use VR to provide visual translations for deaf people and with hearing problems in situations such as the interpretation of 911 calls.

Many performers used in the VRS, Sorenson and ZP companies better together, said they have suffered bad working conditions, low wages and quality of inadequate service for years.

The two companies regulated by the FCC have been accused of damaging the VRS service by focusing on profits instead of investing in their respective labor forces.

There are five companies in the VRS market. Sorenson and ZP Better together were the only companies accused of irregularities in the event.

The interpreter of VRS, Meg Huseman, whose husband and his daughter are deaf, gave an example of the rapid change required in their work.

Interpreter VRS MEG Huseman discusses working conditions at the press conference against the FCC.

“We could receive a call from the bank as soon as we hang,” said “five seconds later, we received a call to a mechanical store, immediately followed by a parents’ teacher conference, and then a 911 call could appear where we are witnesses of trauma. And when the call ends, we are expected to be the business again as always without taking the time to evaluate our own mental state.”

He added that his daughter, who speaks fluently, fights with Vrs.

The union said that its call to action to the FCC is crucial due to the recent sale of ZP best together to the French firm, Teleperformance.

The interpreters and the members of the deaf community expressed concerns about the quality of the service, including insufficient privacy in the call centers, the lack of emergency redundancy, the low quality hardware, the long waiting times and an insufficient use of deaf interpreters and interpretation of the equipment.

The American representative Greg Casar, who represents portions of San Antonio, sent a letter to the FCC detailed these complaints.

“We never know when we are going to need the help of another person, and these services are actually a lifeguard for people, deaf and with hearing problems or not,” he said at the rally. “I need my deaf and with hearing problems of listeners and neighbors and family can call 911 and be well understood. We need that bad. “

The representative Greg Casar speaks at the Press Conference of ASL Interostters Union-Opeiu.

Casar has asked the FCC to organize two city council meetings with the union to improve services and working conditions. “And that audience is happening. We are going to have that public meeting that we have never had before, ”he said in the conference.

In a statement on Monday, March 3, Wendy Adams, Director of Relations of Sorenson, explained in response to the complaints and accusations of the protesters that the company “is working to remain free of third party representation. We believe that this type of representation will not improve the direct relationship we have with our interpreters, which is something that is what succeeded us and we have joined for many years. Interpreters.

Adams also addressed what she said they were inaccuracies at the press conference. In part, he said in his statement: “It is not true that Sorenson only allows five seconds among the interpretation calls. Sorenson provides his interpreters for 10 minutes paid for each hour of work, and a mandatory minimum of 15 seconds between each call.”

He added that the interpreters received eight salary increases in the last two years; The company has made important investments in its interpreter welfare program for physical and mental health; The company has invested in its “specific EAP resources of interpreters that include indirect trauma advice”; The company offers professional development/training programs and registration refund programs; And the company makes monthly calls to listen to the concerns of its interpreters.

ZP Better Together did not respond to the request for TPR comments.