| Страници во темата: [1 2] > | Poll: Would you join a union for translators that would regulate rates and have better payment standards? Лице кое објавува дискусија: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Would you join a union for translators that would regulate rates and have better payment standards?".
This poll was originally submitted by Helene Olsen Richards. View the poll results »
| | | | neilmac
Шпанија
Local time: 12:32
шпански на англиски
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Even though I come from a long-standing left-wing background, I'm afraid the answer would be no. I was once a trade union member and they did nothing for me when I needed assistance. Once bitten, twice shy.
[Edited at 2019-06-05 08:13 GMT]
PS: It's not that I'm against trade unions per se, but I don't think it would be any use to me in my situation, as a self-employed freelancer. I don't see how any newly formed union organisation would be able to enforce anything that would ... See more Even though I come from a long-standing left-wing background, I'm afraid the answer would be no. I was once a trade union member and they did nothing for me when I needed assistance. Once bitten, twice shy.
[Edited at 2019-06-05 08:13 GMT]
PS: It's not that I'm against trade unions per se, but I don't think it would be any use to me in my situation, as a self-employed freelancer. I don't see how any newly formed union organisation would be able to enforce anything that would benefit me or any other potential members.
[Edited at 2019-06-05 08:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Nooooooooooooo! | Jun 5, 2019 |
Unions made sense for semi-literate industrial workers at the time Karl Marx wrote his half-baked treatise. These days they are just a type of legalized blackmail of the silent majority by a (generally) very assertive minority that is always - ALWAYS! - trying to grab a larger share of the pie just because they can, or think they can. As a business owner, why would I condone that kind of behavior?
As a separate reason, the last thing I want is the government or anyone else for that ... See more Unions made sense for semi-literate industrial workers at the time Karl Marx wrote his half-baked treatise. These days they are just a type of legalized blackmail of the silent majority by a (generally) very assertive minority that is always - ALWAYS! - trying to grab a larger share of the pie just because they can, or think they can. As a business owner, why would I condone that kind of behavior?
As a separate reason, the last thing I want is the government or anyone else for that matter telling me how to run my business and live my life. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ar.Transl.Oa (X)
Local time: 13:32
арапски на англиски
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| It depends .. | Jun 5, 2019 |
It depends on how transparent this union is and if there is a real supervision and monitoring for them, because this union could be a friend or a destroyer (mafia) of the translator.
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Muriel Vasconcellos (X) 
Соединети Американски Држави
Local time: 03:32
шпански на англиски
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In the US it's against the law to set rates. It's called price-fixing. We have a sad history of getting in legal trouble when we tried to do it. If we were allowed to, we wouldn't be seeing rates fall the way they are doing now.
There is an international group that meets and negotiates rates for agencies in the United Nations system. That has been helpful for those of us who work for such organizations.
[Edited at 2019-06-05 08:57 GMT]
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Do you mean translators all over the world? Dream on! I just can’t see how that would work as we live in very different conditions. I belong to several translator associations (national and international) and they do try to deal with these issues.
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I don't want my rates regulated, I'm quite happy with what I can negotiate and I do not want to be restricted to any kind of "statutory" rates.
| | | | maryblack
Соединети Американски Држави
Local time: 05:32
шпански на англиски
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| great idea... not very feasible | Jun 5, 2019 |
I only wish we could regulate rates, but with translation/interpreting being a worldwide industry with many players, large and small, I can't see how regulated rates would be remotely enforceable.
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Angie Garbarino
Local time: 12:32
Член (2003)
англиски на италијански
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| Not only in the USA | Jun 5, 2019 |
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
In the US it's against the law to set rates. It's called price-fixing. We have a sad history of getting in legal trouble when we tried to do it. If we were allowed to, we wouldn't be seeing rates fall the way they are doing now.
There is an international group that meets and negotiates rates for agencies in the United Nations system. That has been helpful for those of us who work for such organizations.
[Edited at 2019-06-05 08:57 GMT]
Also in Europe https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/selling-in-eu/competition-between-businesses/index_en.htm
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I even wish I had a union that could regulate fees, but I find it very difficult to have that control.
| | | | Siobhán Fulton
Соединети Американски Држави
Local time: 06:32
германски на англиски
| Minimum rates tend to become maximum rates | Jun 5, 2019 |
A world-wide union is unfeasible for a variety of economic and political factors.
Having belonged to various unions (Steelworkers, Communications Workers of America), I'm not anti-union in principle. Furthermore, a union of entrepreneurs is absurd, if you think about it.
What might be a dream rate in China would be untenable in the United States. In the 1970s, working part-time with an IBM memory typewriter I was already getting five cents/word. When I started transla... See more A world-wide union is unfeasible for a variety of economic and political factors.
Having belonged to various unions (Steelworkers, Communications Workers of America), I'm not anti-union in principle. Furthermore, a union of entrepreneurs is absurd, if you think about it.
What might be a dream rate in China would be untenable in the United States. In the 1970s, working part-time with an IBM memory typewriter I was already getting five cents/word. When I started translating full-time in the early 1980s when desktop computers became available, I was being paid six cents/word. Thirty-five years later I'm getting unsolicited offers of five cents/word or even less. Assuming five cents/word (or less!) as the going rate in parts of the non-European world, setting this as the minimum rate would make a lot of people happy, but would force most American and European translators out of business due to the application of Gresham's Law to translation. ▲ Collapse
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The sad truth is that...
Kevin Fulton wrote:
Minimum rates tend to become maximum rates
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DZiW (X)
Украина
англиски на руски
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So, agencies are allegedly ok to set low-bottom rates (via 'averages' and 'discounts') whereas translators cannot set the minimum rate because of price-fixing and 'unethical practices', yep? If not milking then wording.
While I'm working with direct clients only, I could consider joining a dedicated union of worthy colleagues and decent lawyers, yet the capitalism attitude rulez...
| | | | Yaotl Altan
Мексико
Local time: 04:32
англиски на шпански
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We need to protect the rookie translators and , generally speaking, our rates. Some agencies have an exploitative and predatory practices.
Furthermore, as we have seen through history and, particularly during these 4 neoliberal decades, market NEVER regulates itself.
| | | | Muriel Vasconcellos (X)
Соединети Американски Држави
Local time: 03:32
шпански на англиски
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| A lesson from history | Jun 5, 2019 |
In 1972, I belonged to The American Association of Language Specialists (TAALS), long defunct. Before we got in trouble, we set the "recommended" rate at USD 0.10 per word. Some of us were already getting that rate. That was 47 years ago. The purchasing power of the US dollar has increased five-fold since then, yet there are still agencies and translators talking about rates lower than USD 0.10.
The problem with a union is: Who do you negotiate with? In the UN system, there are par... See more In 1972, I belonged to The American Association of Language Specialists (TAALS), long defunct. Before we got in trouble, we set the "recommended" rate at USD 0.10 per word. Some of us were already getting that rate. That was 47 years ago. The purchasing power of the US dollar has increased five-fold since then, yet there are still agencies and translators talking about rates lower than USD 0.10.
The problem with a union is: Who do you negotiate with? In the UN system, there are parties on both sides of the table. I think the only way a union would work would be if it used the UN rates as an example and started to negotiate with the largest agencies, one by one. Otherwise, there's not much a union could do except remind translators that current rates are not high enough to support full-time freelance translation as a profession in many parts of the world.
Working conditions are another story. TAALS successfully negotiated improved hours and booth conditions for simultaneous interpreters. But freelance translators? We get to negotiate our working conditions every time we accept a job. ▲ Collapse
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