Following Strike, Court Interpreters on Track to Win Raise
Minnesota Reformer (04/19/24) By Max Nesterak
Minnesota lawmakers are likely to fund a 15% pay increase for state-certified court interpreters after a seven-week strike forced the court system to postpone hearings and turn to less qualified interpreters.
Yet court interpreters, who are independent contractors and not unionized, say the higher pay still won’t be competitive with other state courts or the private sector. They feel the Minnesota Judicial Branch will continue to struggle to uphold its constitutional mandate to provide interpreters to all court participants who are deaf or non-English speakers.
Esperanza Lopez-Dominguez, a court-certified Spanish interpreter, told the Senate Judiciary Committee she rejects nearly all the offers she receives from the Minnesota courts because they only pay $65 an hour, whereas she can earn $130 to $170 per hour in the private sector.
“I could never pay my mortgage, pay my medical bills, or send my kids to college if I only relied on the income the judicial branch generates,” said Lopez-Dominguez, who has worked as an interpreter in the Minnesota court system for 26 years.
Interpreters say the higher pay in the private sector and other courts reflects their advanced skills; not just speaking two languages fluently, but also being able to simultaneously interpret conversations using technical vocabulary and emotional intelligence.
Pay for Minnesota court interpreters has barely changed over nearly three decades. In 1997, court interpreters made $50 an hour. They made $56 an hour until January 8, 2024, when their pay increased to $65 an hour. That’s when interpreters began what they planned as an indefinite strike, demanding $96 an hour to match the buying power they had in the 1990s.
The interpreters, over 125 of whom signed a petition in support of the work stoppage, called off the strike in March while continuing to urge lawmakers to appropriate more money. Both the Minnesota House and the Senate have included funding for pay increases in their judiciary budget bills.
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New ISO Standard 5060 Focuses on Human Evaluation to Ensure Translation Quality
Slator (04/17/24) By Olga Gulla-Kowalik
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the body responsible for developing and publishing international standards, has published a new standard on the evaluation of translation output.
ISO 5060 is the result of four years of work conducted by the ISO/TC 37/SC 5 Technical Committee for Translation, Interpreting, and Related Technology, and the 18th document of this kind published by the unit. Numerous experts on translation and quality evaluation formed part of the working group, with participants from more than 30 countries contributing to the standard’s creation.
ISO certification brings an array of benefits for companies deciding to pursue it, including increased sales and revenue, heightened efficiency, and improved quality of operations. Language services providers and others recognize compliance with ISO norms as a competitive advantage, allowing them to position themselves among top players in the industry.
The new ISO 5060 standard was published in February 2024. The standard’s documentation states that it “is applicable to translation services providers […], including individual translators, translation companies or in-house translation services, their clients and other interested parties in the translation sector, such as translator education and training institutions.” Aimed at providing guidance for the human evaluation of the translation output, ISO 5060 can be applied to workflows involving both human and machine translation with or without subsequent post-editing.
The standard combines hands-on advice with strategic considerations and general principles for translation quality evaluation. It’s built on an analytic approach that involves a “bilingual examination of target-language content against source-language content while classifying any errors with respect to translation evaluation specifications for the purpose of reaching a quality rating.” Focusing on the translation requirements and treating any deviation as an error allows for a higher degree of evaluation objectivity and inter-rater reliability (guaranteeing the evaluation results will not differ significantly depending on the evaluator).
“The standard enables the user to produce reliable and trustworthy translation quality data, which is something completely different than MT predictive quality estimation,” said Christopher Kurz, a member of the ISO/TC 37/SC 5 Committee.
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Families of Key Bridge Collapse Victims Rely on Interpreters to Navigate Life
Baltimore Sun (04/12/24) By Maya Lora
In the weeks that have passed since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26 claimed the lives of six construction workers, bilingual case managers continue to guide the victims’ families through the ongoing aftermath, making themselves available after hours and on days off.
“We want to make sure that we’re getting all the information correct, that we’re relaying the correct information, and that we’re not just collecting one answer and then going from that,” said Lupita Espino, an interpreter for the Esperanza Center, a resource center for immigrants run by Catholic Charities of Baltimore that is working with the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs to provide bilingual case management for the affected families. “If we’re not contacting the families, they’re contacting us, and we’re making sure we’re answering the questions they have.”
Espino and another bilingual case manager, Mayra Loera, both Mexican natives who count Spanish as their first language, are just two of the many people who are part of a coordinated response effort. The support team works with the primarily Spanish-speaking families most affected by the tragedy. All six victims were Latino immigrants, hailing from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
“We are here for them to make sure that this is a little bit easier, so at least they can receive the aid they need,” Espino said. “That’s probably one of the most important things as a case manager right now for the situation, is being there for them and hearing them and being their voice.”
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PBS KIDS Adds American Sign Language Interpreters to Some of Its Children’s Shows
Disability Scoop (04/23/24) By Shaun Heasley
PBS KIDS is reworking many of its most popular shows to be more accessible to children with disabilities.
The network is offering alternate versions of episodes from six shows by adding American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters in a bid to better serve children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Given that the content on PBS KIDS is aimed at those ages 2 to 8, the network said many of its viewers are not yet able to read captions and would benefit from ASL.
“PBS KIDS aims to reach kids across the country with accessible, high-quality content,” said Jen Rodriguez, director of research and inclusive design at PBS. “This new ASL content builds on PBS KIDS’ extensive accessibility offerings and unwavering dedication to inclusivity, aiming to empower kids to engage with content in ways that best suit their individual needs and preferences, with accessibility top of mind.”
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NYPD Implements American Sign Language Training for Recruits as Part of Its Equity and Inclusion Initiative
QNS (04/16/24) By Iryna Shkurhan
Over 600 New York Police Department (NYPD) recruits who are set to graduate this May participated in basic American Sign Language (ASL) training at the Police Academy in College Point. The training is part of an equity and inclusion initiative to better communicate with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.
While the goal is for all city officers to have some knowledge of sign language, 15 officers are in the process of receiving national certification as ASL interpreters. They were selected based on their existing knowledge of ASL or their desire to learn how to sign simultaneously at an advanced level.
In recent weeks, all training sergeants have completed ASL training. They will now bring the knowledge back to their respective precincts so that current officers can be equipped to communicate with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in the community.
“The core job of what we do requires communication,” said Deputy Commissioner of Equity and Inclusion, Wendy Garcia, who spearheaded the initiative. “And that response time is critical.”
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