Breakthrough on AV translators’ collective agreement

New collective agreement for AV translators reached after intense negotiations.

Negotiations between TV, film and subtitle translators and translation agencies closed just after midnight 21 March with agreement of terms for a new collective agreement.

This will contain new provisions on pay and contractual terms and conditions. The agreement will take effect from the beginning of May and expire at the end of 2017.

The translation agencies BTI Studios, Pre-Text and Stellar Text assented to the agreement after nine hours of talks. Rosmer International and SDI Media have a week to decide their position on the new agreement.

The agreement provides for staggered process concerning pay, where wages and salaries will be adjusted upwards toward the level settled on in the collective agreement. In their next phase of negotiations, the parties to the current settlement will aim to reach a uniform level applicable to all areas of translation work.

The UFJ’s head of advocacy Petri Savolainen welcomed the agreement. “The negotiated result is a good achievement following all-in-all six years of negotiations in various configurations.”

He also welcomed the new collective agreement’s ruling concerning the public broadcaster, Yle. “For the UFJ, it is particularly important that with translation work done for Yle the joint collective agreement is followed regardless of whether pay for timework, piecework or subcontracted work.”

The agreement sees the closing of the gap in employment terms and conditions for AV translators.

Such professionals have long been divided into two groups. On the one hand, there are freelancers who work for Yle and the commercially funded MTV3 and who are considered employees protected by a joint collective agreement. On the other, AV translators working for translation agencies have usually had to operate as sole traders.

Helena Lamponen, the head of Akava Special Branches’ advocacy unit, said that the outcome of the talks would facilitate the start of the consolidation of the AV translation industry.