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CWA Linguists Offer Help in 40 Languages
The Translators and Interpreters Guild is adding a new twist to the slogan “Look for the Union Label.” The nationwide Guild, TNG-CWA Local 32100, is urging locals, as well as individual union members and their families, to “shop union” when they need specialized language services.
A local on strike in an area with a large Hispanic population, for instance, could reach far more people by handing out flyers in English and Spanish. A family could have an ancestor’s letters from the old country translated. A community group may need an interpreter to assist exchange students.
The Guild’s referral service makes finding a translator — someone who works with written documents — or an interpreter, who specializes in verbal communication, as easy as a toll-free phone call. Collectively, TTIG’s members are fluent in 40 languages.
“When you hire a translator or interpreter through our services, you’re hiring a fellow union member who is an experienced language professional,” TTIG President Alan Gleason said. “Everyone on our list has passed through a stringent screening process.”
And the screening is getting tougher. TTIG is now offering it 350 members across the country a chance to be certified by the Guild. Client and peer references, work samples and work experience will be reviewed by a professional committee before certification is issued.
“We felt that people who qualified for referral service were entitled to formal recognition of their abilities,” Gleason said. “There is no official licensing for translators and interpreters in this country. Guild certification, therefore, is one way they can demonstrate to clients that they are professionals.”
Most of TTIG’s members are freelance language professionals. A growing number of courthouse interpreters around the country are also CWA members, or are in the process of organizing. They are associated with TNG-CWA locals, however, rather than the nationwide Guild.
To contact the TTIG referral service, call (800) 992-0367, or (703) 522-0881 in the greater Washington, D.C. area.
A local on strike in an area with a large Hispanic population, for instance, could reach far more people by handing out flyers in English and Spanish. A family could have an ancestor’s letters from the old country translated. A community group may need an interpreter to assist exchange students.
The Guild’s referral service makes finding a translator — someone who works with written documents — or an interpreter, who specializes in verbal communication, as easy as a toll-free phone call. Collectively, TTIG’s members are fluent in 40 languages.
“When you hire a translator or interpreter through our services, you’re hiring a fellow union member who is an experienced language professional,” TTIG President Alan Gleason said. “Everyone on our list has passed through a stringent screening process.”
And the screening is getting tougher. TTIG is now offering it 350 members across the country a chance to be certified by the Guild. Client and peer references, work samples and work experience will be reviewed by a professional committee before certification is issued.
“We felt that people who qualified for referral service were entitled to formal recognition of their abilities,” Gleason said. “There is no official licensing for translators and interpreters in this country. Guild certification, therefore, is one way they can demonstrate to clients that they are professionals.”
Most of TTIG’s members are freelance language professionals. A growing number of courthouse interpreters around the country are also CWA members, or are in the process of organizing. They are associated with TNG-CWA locals, however, rather than the nationwide Guild.
To contact the TTIG referral service, call (800) 992-0367, or (703) 522-0881 in the greater Washington, D.C. area.