Thread: This can't be happening, but it is

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...90/detail.html

The story and link were in Brit Hume's column today on FoxNews.

Fire Crew Bosses Who Can't Speak Spanish Can Lose Jobs
Oregon Begins To Strictly Enforce Language Rule

POSTED: 3:46 pm MDT June 22, 2006
UPDATED: 2:26 pm MDT June 23, 2006
[NEWSVINE: Fire Crew Bosses Who Can't Speak Spanish Can Lose Jobs] [DELICIOUS: Fire Crew Bosses Who Can't Speak Spanish Can Lose Jobs] [DIGG: Fire Crew Bosses Who Can't Speak Spanish Can Lose Jobs] [FACEBOOK: Fire Crew Bosses Who Can't Speak Spanish Can Lose Jobs] [REDDIT: Fire Crew Bosses Who Can't Speak Spanish Can Lose Jobs] [RSS] [PRINT: Fire Crew Bosses Who Can't Speak Spanish Can Lose Jobs] [EMAIL: Fire Crew Bosses Who Can't Speak Spanish Can Lose Jobs]
With 24 major wildfires burning across the southwestern United States, fire officials need every firefighter they can get. They've done that in Oregon, but it's created another problem.

Officials are now having to lay off some of the bosses who manage those firefighting crews because the bosses are not bilingual. Many of the newer hires in Oregon only speak Spanish.

"What we do know is 85 percent of the crew makeup is of Hispanic descent," said Jim Walker, with the Oregon Department of Forestry.

The state said all bosses must speak the same language of their crew on the fire lines for safety reasons. They want to make sure that the leader of the crews can quickly communicate during an emergencey if the fire turns or if there is another problem on the fire lines.

"Our main concern is that they are safe, and they are in a safe environment, and a lot of that deals with communication," Walker said.

Because of the state's language requirement, Jaime Pickering can no longer work as a crew boss and supervise 20 firefighters. He can only manage a squad of four firefighters.

"If you have one Spanish guy on the crew, as an English crew boss, you can no longer be a crew boss. You have to step back to a squad boss, which is a demotion," Pickering said.

The state of Oregon actually made the change in 2003, after a devastating wildfire season in 2002 had contractors scrambling to find help. The state just started strictly monitoring the law this year, as Hispanics continued to fill fire lines.

"I think the (rule) is good, because that's for safety purpose," said Manuel Franco, who is a contractor for fire crews. He thinks the state's rule is necessary for worker safety.

"If there's a rock rolling down, everybody should understand that," Franco said.

But he does wish it were different.

"We're living here. We should speak the language," he said.

So why couldn't the state require that these crew members speak English? The state doesn't have a clear answer.

"If it comes down to a safety issue, and it's determined that's the only way we can have people safely on an incident, then yes," Walker said.

There are simply no words to describe this stupidity.

That is a can of $hit. Don't they have a lawsuit now? And what about the people they need to yell to so they get out of their homes? They aren't going to understand Spanish. This is wrong in so many ways!

These firefighters who are losing their jobs need to file a lawsuit against the city for firing them. They have a right to perform their job in ENGLISH!!

At the very least, they should be able to argue that the city is being discriminatory against English-speaking firefighters and favoring Spanish-speaking firefighters.

There has to be a valid lawsuit in here somewhere!!! Why is it that Americans aren't fighting for their rights???

I can't understand how they are getting away with this??? EOE is out the window here I guess! And a few years back they would use this practice by the book!!! Now off the shelf it goes!!!

Read about this a while back in the Oregonian, makes me sick. One of my brothers had worked in a crew and was a squad leader for a while, but then it was all Americans, a few Hispanics.

The same was true years ago when my uncle was alive. He was a migrant worker, he was a bachelor, and saw no reason to have a home of his own, he liked moving from place to place, so he worked the NW apple orchards. This was when the main migrant workforce was made up of Americans like himself.

I have to agree fighting forest fires is not only hazardous, but also hard. However, if it pays like it used to, then they should have no problem getting young Americans who are willing to do it, and in English too!

JUST ANOTHER CASE FOR ENGLISH BEING THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.

I hope they sue big time!!!!!!!!!! Why are we catering to people who just don't give a rat's butt about America? If they did, they would learn English. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THEM NOT TO.....IF THEY CAN'T BE BOTHERED, SEND THEM HOME.

I almost thinking that this is another case for us to be tolerant...NOT!!!

Somebody please stop this stupidity!

Originally Posted by BorderLegionnaire

I can't understand how they are getting away with this??? EOE is out the window here I guess! And a few years back they would use this practice by the book!!! Now off the shelf it goes!!!

All those government programs - non discrimination, quotas, equal rights, etc., were not enacted to help anyone. It was enacted to give the government a whip to hold over anyone they decided to persecute.

The government never, ever, does anything - for the people. Occasionally something they want might mesh with something that is good - very seldom.

Perhaps it explains the drastic increase in wildland fires we are experiencing in the west in recent years. A pound of prevention is worth a ton of cure.

Originally Posted by nntrixie

Originally Posted by BorderLegionnaire

I can't understand how they are getting away with this??? EOE is out the window here I guess! And a few years back they would use this practice by the book!!! Now off the shelf it goes!!!

All those government programs - non discrimination, quotas, equal rights, etc., were not enacted to help anyone. It was enacted to give the government a whip to hold over anyone they decided to persecute.

The government never, ever, does anything - for the people. Occasionally something they want might mesh with something that is good - very seldom.

I thought never agreed with EOE or quota programs! It should be if the best person for the job gets it! I mean to pad numbers is just plain wrong, there doing it now to pad their bank accounts by hiring illegal aliens and passing over the American worker on both skilled and non-skilled work! H-1B program is the worst ever for skilled high tech American workers who go to school to be come engineers and administrators for computer programming and integration and other computer or lab tech job that can't get into the field because of the government support of imported workers on the cheap! It devalues the American worker and encourages more and more imported H-1Bs and the even dreadful illegal unskilled workers that destroy the working class as well!!!!