Next step: Power in one body!
I have now re-watched the grilling. As much as I revelled in it, lots remains to be done – first of all: setting up one strong professional association that will represent all of us so that next time there is a question: how many people you represent, the answer is: 2000.
Professional Interpreters for Justice campaigns for the protection of title for interpreters. But members of the regulated professions all need to be members of a professional body. Which professional body are you prepared to join when the title of ‘the court interpreter’ is recognised? More importantly, which professional body is the PI4J going to put forward once the talks with the MoJ start?
Who got us the NAO report?
Who got us the PAC hearing?
Who got us the JSC inquiry?
Now is the time to show our appreciation and unite behind all those people who have worked so hard to get us to this point. So – in alphabetical order (no preference to be inferred): APCI, NUPIT, PIA, SOMI and SPSI – maybe now is the right moment to start thinking when we can organise a national meeting to launch a unified organisation that would be able to represent us all - recognising that we are all driven by common interests but sometimes may have different ideas how to further our goals.
And we must not forget how it all started – on 6 May 2005 Yasar set up a Yahoo group for campaigning interpreters. It had its ups and downs, as you do, but this was a tool that provided a platform to exchange ideas, info and to organise sparing matches in preparation for the real fight that is taking place now. Without Zuzana, Farid, Willie, Mikhail and many, many others (you know who you are) today would have never happened. Inspired by them, others have come forward and taken the fight forward – into the open, onto the platform I am using now.
So what do you think? Are we ready now to form one single strong body with the power of 2000 people behind it? If you agree with me, please select “like” for this post – if I have enough ‘likes’, I will then try to take it forward.
To conclude, I would like to share with you my battle cry, if you have not learned Polish yet, just click on the subtitles button on the right http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8XqfbGJyMc