About NUPIT
10 Reasons to Join NUPIT
1. To become part of an autonomous group within a large Trade Union — Unite the Union, thereby enjoying the resources and professional support Unite has to offer.
2. To have a strong and influential collective voice on behalf of your profession.
3. The provision of comprehensive representation in the event of legal claims arising out of the work you do.
4. Advice and representation on terms of appointment and other related employment matters.
5. To promote the establishment of a fair and reasonable fee level in consultation with users of our services.
6. The opportunity to join an established section of Unite the Union, encouraging all members to contribute in word and deed to union affairs
7. We offer guidance on health and safety issues.
8. To work to raise public recognition of the professionalism and competence of interpreters and translators.
9. We will defend the legal and human rights of interpreters and translators, tackling instances of bullying, intimidation and unfair discrimination.
10. We are an open and democratic union, offering an important forum for the discussion of the issues facing interpreters and translators.
Frequently Asked Questions about NUPIT
1. What are the aims/objectives of NUPIT?The aim is to build a union for all interpreters and translators who feel the need for one. Most workers are concerned about their pay levels, their working conditions, their safety, the fairness with which they are treated and so on. Interpreters and translators are no different in this respect, though of course, they have different problems because in the main they are freelance, self-employed workers. But they are not the only workers in this situation and they are not the first to realise that a union is a necessity, so we have a lot to go on. Regulating conditions, protecting members, offering them legal and other forms of support when they need it, getting them the money they are owed by clients who default or try to cheat them is all part of what we are about.
Another thing: NUPIT aims to raise the standing of interpreters in the eyes of the public, and ensure good standards of training and qualifications. Without this, there will always be a tendency for people needing an interpreter or translator to go to the taxi driver round the corner who speaks a bit of this or that language. Professional translators and interpreters are well-qualified people and it is essential that they are properly rewarded for what they do. Most professional workers have a union to represent them, and that’s what we aim to do for interpreters and translators.
2. How long has NUPIT been in operation?
We have been in business properly since the beginning of 2001. I am happy to say that we are growing, and that interpreters and translators of many different kinds are turning to us. As well as the public service interpreters and the court interpreters we are now making headway with those who work in the Home Office and others who work as conference interpreters. There are a small but growing number of specialist translators who are with us too, and I really hope that we can work with ITI (which I have a great deal of respect for incidentally) to build a union which cuts across all divisions and demarcations in the professions and appeals to all.
3. What made Unite the Union decide to represent translators and interpreters?
Well you have to look at our history. We have always been at the leading edge. We had an arrangement for a number of years with the Danish Association of Business Language Graduates so that we would represent them when they came over here and they would represent our members when they were in Denmark. We have many different professional groups who are part of Unite the Union. So it was the interpreters and translators who were looking for a union who came to us and we said, “Yes, fine we’ll help,” because that’s the way we are and its what we are here for. We are constanly growing, with sections for IT professionals, specialist professions in the health service, clergy, surveyors and engineers, health visitors, and many many more. It was the most natural thing in the world that when the interpreters and translators who wanted to form a union came to us, we should agree to help because that’s what we are here for and that's what we do.
4. In a nutshell, why should people join NUPIT?
They should join if they want to be protected in what they do at work, and they should join if they want to be part of an organisation that is trying to raise their pay and improve their conditions. Some people are joining us principally for the protection we afford. I myself would not wish to be in a situation where I had to brief a lawyer to sue someone on my behalf, and pay for him or her out of my own pocket. As a union member I know that this kind of support is available, as well as many other benefits like cheaper insurance premiums and so on. People join because it is good value, but they also join because they want to belong to something bigger than them alone and which is trying to do its best for their profession.
And of course they belong to NUPIT — its their’s you know, not something outside them like an insurance policy. You are a member of a union and you belong to it with others who are also trying to improve things for your profession and to protect you. This is rather nice I think in this day and age when so much that we hear about seems to forget that people can do great things when they work together.
5. Do you intend to represent all translators and interpreters or only specific segments of the profession?
There are parts of the profession which are not represented in NUPIT at the present time, but we are keen to represent all who come within the professions of translating and interpreting, and meet the necessary condition that they are in it as professionals with proper qualifications and experience.
6. What is the current membership composition of NUPIT?
Most are public service interpreters. Many are involved in court and police work, but they are freelancers and work where they can get it providing the work is properly rewarded. Others are with agencies or working for health authorities and some are freelance translators, and we have a small but growing membership among the business and conference interpreters.
7. What do you aim to offer that is different from the existing professional associations?
Improve pay, offer members legal support if they are hurt or injured or in any other way harmed in their work, campaign for improved conditions, set standard rates which work providers will follow, support their training, champion the work they do and the need for them to be recognised for it and a lot more.
8. Will you be providing legal support for debt collection such as the NUJ can provide for its translator members?
The NUJ uses the same firms of lawyers as we do and has the same aims with regard to freelance workers I am sure. The main difference is that the NUJ is only for journalists or people who do journalistic types of jobs. Some translators may belong on this basis but I am sure I am right in saying that the NUJ does not take interpreters into membership. On your basic question however, yes we will be doing much the same as the NUJ has done for freelance journalists, helping them to recover monies which have not been paid by bad clients. We advocate trying to settle the matter peacefully to begin with, and using the law as a last resort – much better for client relations. But in the last analysis it is useful to have legal backing and that’s one good reason to belong.
9. Will you be offering pension schemes?
No but we can tell you were to get them.
10. What other services will you be providing?
We are not like unions which only publish one magazine. We have ageneral magazine, one aimed specifically at reps and of course we write and produce newsletters, e –bulletins and have an accessible and informative web site. There are many educational courses which we provide for members, and some of these will be of interest to NUPIT members. We have already undertaken an employment conditions survey.
11. What will you be campaigning for and what campaigns have you already started?
We are working on some models and guides for terms of appointment. We are trying to give interpreters and translators the means of helping themselves by telling them what is reasonable and what to go for in their terms of appointment. We have undertaken a survey of working conditions of public service interpreters. All this is good stuff and hopefully will be the foundations on which we build membership of NUPIT.
12. What tools would you seek to deploy in your campaigns?
A lot of it has to do with making a reasoned case and then gaining support for it. We have a lot of political connections, we are very used to pushing our causes in the media and we will be doing this more and more. You may have noticed some of this already. Putting information and knowledge into the hands of our members is important and can be very effective, this gives members the tools they need to assist others and organize their colleagues.
13. Are there any entry requirements or is membership open to any translator and interpreter?
You must be a professional interpreter or translator able to show that you are qualified to work in the profession.
For Further Information about Joining NUPIT
Contact:
NUPIT/Unite the Union,PO BOX 65110, London SW1P 9PS
Email:
amelianaranjo.nupit1@virgin.net
Email:
eileen.ford@freeuk.com
