Our pressure -- BEFORE WE HAVE EVEN HAD OUR MEETING -- has made some headway against Signtalk and their abusive practices. While some of our members lost their cool screaming some sense into Leah at Signtalk (thanks bf), they were clearly feeling stressed about the fact that several interpreters are meeting THIS SATURDAY, MARCH 20TH 1-3 PM, to discuss how we as a working community to can FIGHT BACK against OPPRESSIVE AGENCIES! Excuse me, but WHY DO WE NEED AGENCIES IN THE FIRST PLACE? They are taking 40-60% of the charge to the client off the top. For what? Giving us inaccurate and incomplete information about the clients. (Thanks again Signtalk ... and others.) If we HAD OUR OWN AGENCY we could charge the deaf/hearing consumer less and still make a living wage. SIGNTALK (et al) should be working FOR US!
Meanwhile, SHOW UP AND KEEP FIGHTING, lets make sure Signtalk also takes back that illegal bullshit about "re-assigning" us to other jobs if a client cancels. (While they keep the money) And maybe they might start giving us/you accurate information about jobs. Frankly, we wish Signtalk would just go away, but in lieu of that how about they just stop dicking over Terps.
MEANWHILE LETS START OUR OWN AGENCY! PLEASE! A CO-OP WHERE CERT/QUALIFIED TERPS WORK FOR OURSELVES AND LOWER THE COSTS TO THE CITY AND THE CONSUMER!!!
WE ARE NOT TEMPS!
(Signtalk/Leah's lame plea below)
"Dear Sign Language Interpreter,
COMMUNICATION is KEY. In the spirit of renewal that comes with Spring, we are exploring ways to enhance our relationship and ensure that communication continues to be open and interactive.
Give us your input. Meet with us and you will receive a Gift Card and an entry to win a pair of tickets to the much acclaimed, marvelous Broadway show – THE MIRACLE WORKER!
We are proud of our peerless position as leaders in the industry and attribute it to our vigilance to best business practices, our integrity, and our appreciation of the high standards and caliber of our affiliated Independent Professionals.
As we continue to update our operating procedures, please note that in direct response to your feedback, interpreters may now invoice for twice the time worked – instead of time and a half – in instances of “partner-no-show.”
Finally, please remember to redeem your Comprehensive Advantage® points annually by December 31. If you have not redeemed your points in 2009, please note that we have extended the deadline to April 9, 2010. Call Suzanne Hersher at 718-382-2022 for your point balance and a list of redemption choices.
We look forward to meeting with you.
Sincerely,"
Leah Schlager Maria Jimenez
Program Director Program Manager
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Sign Language Resources SLR has an even more restrictive re-assignment policy in their contract.
ReplyDelete4.1 Other requests after cancellation. If the interpreter is to be paid for canceled work, and other interpreting work is requested through SLR for all or part of the canceled hours, SLR reserves the right to ask the interpreter to perform the other work, under reasonable circumstances. The amount invoiced to SLR by the interpreter will be at least equal to that of the original assignment, but for invoicing purposes, may be divided into different jobs and job numbers.