Thread: Speaking English on the Job is Common Sense

[b]


Speaking English on the Job is Common Sense... Right?

Posted by Bobby Eberle
November 27, 2007 at 7:09 am

A new survey shows that a vast majority of Americans believe that companies should be allowed to require employees to speak English while on the job. This makes perfect sense, right? If you're on a construction site, and there is a large steel I-beam heading for your head, you'd probably want your co-workers to warn you about it... in English!

But yet again, this type of policy is causing an uproar, this time in Connecticut, where a sheet metal plant is being sued by five Spanish-speaking workers because the company "ordered its employees to speak only English on the job because of safety concerns."


First, some numbers... According to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports, 77% of American voters say "companies should be allowed to require employees to speak English while on the job." The telephone survey found only 14% disagree with the position.

The English-only worksite sentiment crosses party affiliations with 84% of Republicans and 70% of Democrats in agreement. "Just 13% of American voters believe that requiring workers to speak English is a form of racism or bigotry. Seventy-nine percent (79%) disagree."

Rasmussen notes that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) does not feel the same way as the vast majority of the American public. Rasmussen cites EEOC documents which state "linguistic characteristics are closely associated with national origin" and can therefore be used to "discriminate on the basis of national origin."

Earlier this year, the EEOC filed a lawsuit against a Framingham, Massachusetts Salvation Army Thrift Store for requiring that only English be spoken in the workplace. In 2003, a federal court ruled in favor of the Salvation Army in a similar case brought by the EEOC. The head of the agency testified before Congress that “an employer who establishes an English-only rule has a responsibility to show a business necessity for that rule.â€

If these people need examples of dangers of not speaking English on the job then they should look at construction accidents. In South Florida the number of construction accidents and deaths has sky rocketed since non English speaking illegals have taken those jobs away from Americans. In many cases police also respond to those accidents and if they don't they will get that call once fire rescue pronounce them dead. If police arrive often times they get an interpreter or need to call a Spanish speaking officer.

My Brazilian friend was BAFFLED as to WHY multilingual jobs in Dallas, TX, often go to ILLEGALS. We both know English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and in addition she knows French and German, and has a BACHELOR'S in FOREIGN languages from the UNIVERSITY of TENNESSEE in Memphis. Yet, my Brazilian friend and I have been CONTINUALLY BYPASSED when seeking multilingual positions, while a LOT of these jobs go to ILLITERATE foreigners who CAN'T even READ their OWN language, MUCH less English! My friend complained that giving multilingual jobs to people who are NOT competent in the REQUIRED languages only insures POOR workmanship and could even be DANGEROUS. I told her she was RIGHT, but GREEDY employers DON'T care about QUALITY, only about QUANTITY as in a BIGGER BOTTOM LINE. My friend said that what if linguistically incompetent employees make a MISTAKE in TRANSLATION and someone who reads it takes it WRONG and COMES to the BOSS'S office with a GUN?! I said that if THAT happens because the employer hired the WRONG people for the job, it would be HIS fault if someone took it out on him!

God, we're in such a mess ----------