Workforce Language Services

What does it mean to be Latino of African-American? The author of this article rightly notes that many people, rather than identifying themselves with just one racial or ethnic identity, instead feel that they belong to three: their mother’s, their father’s and their own unique blend of heritage and experience. For most people, that’s fine - but when you’re a presidential candidate, there is often pressure to pick a side.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has received criticism from both sides of the spectrum — for being too Latino, or not Latino enough. Some claim he tried to hide his Latino roots behind his “gringo” last name. Others feel he flaunts his Latino heritage too much, or only at politically convenient times. Some fault him for trying too hard to capitalize on being the “Latino candidate,” while others criticize him for running as an “American candidate, not a Hispanic candidate.”

He speaks Spanish fluently and was chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — and yet a recent poll showed that many Latino voters still do not realize there is a Latino candidate for president.

Richardson’s experience is echoed every day in middle school hallways and cafeterias across the nation. People want him to choose between one side or the other. What are you — Latino or American? And what about you, Barack Obama — are you black or white?

Obama, son of a black Kenyan father and white Midwestern mother, has been challenged on the same issues. Is he capitalizing on his blackness? Is he trying to “act white”? Is he too black, or not black enough? Too white, or not white enough?

In presidential politics, as in middle school cafeterias, there is overwhelming pressure to choose one side over the other. But the truth is, Bill Richardson and Barack Obama, like all bicultural or multicultural individuals, do not need to hide or deny — or, alternatively, over-inflate — one heritage at the expense of the other.

The two sides of their cultural heritage are not mutually exclusive.

Cultural barriers in the workplace occur at all levels, from entry-level employees to the top of the company. This article on Monster.com speaks well to the challenges of hiring employees when we don’t understand how to probe the language and cultural skills that potential employees bring to the hiring process.

Spanish Language Skills Are a Double-Edged Sword

Spanish fluency cuts both ways. Through anecdotes from friends in fields like finance and law and his own work as president of Silicon Valley-based semiconductor firm Siloet, Jose Estabil finds that employers often expect Hispanic/Latino hires to fit into one of three groups. “Companies that do business with Spanish-speaking countries expect us to speak perfect Spanish,” he says. “Those that hire us to work with Hispanic clients domestically feel there will be a good fit and skill set. And then there are people who worry we won’t cut the mustard. They assume we have a disability, because we speak Spanish at home.”

The fear that Hispanics/Latinos can’t read and write English does exist in the workplace, Estabil says, even at upper levels. “I don’t see people challenging that presumption,” he adds. “And I don’t see policies in corporate America addressing it.”

Part of the presumption stems from the hiring process, he says. Interviewers are hesitant to delve into areas like “cultural proficiency,” fearing legal repercussions from rejected applicants.

For some Hispanic/Latino job seekers, accents can be a detriment, Estabil says, particularly in areas where articulateness is viewed as a measure of intelligence. “I know people who consider Spanish skills a liability, like stammering,” he says.

We can all use a good laugh…

With the rising influence of the Latino worker means a greater need for awareness and understanding of cultural and language issues.

Latinos’ growing clout has seized candidates’ notice | Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON — Until this summer, the cooks, waiters and housekeepers of Las Vegas usually didn’t see many contenders for the White House until well into an election season.

These days, though, members of the Culinary Workers Union are entertaining repeat visits from Democratic candidates. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) lyrically praised the role of service workers at the group’s recent rally. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) promised to walk a picket line with them.

The scrupulous attention is testament to the rising influence of Latino voters, who make up almost half of the union’s membership of 60,000, as well as almost 9 percent of Nevada’s electorate.

Summary of the recommendations :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State

The New Americans Policy Council emphasizes strategies that empower immigrants and refugees to participate to the fullest extent possible in our economic and civic life, while fostering social cohesion with their new neighbors. The Policy Council focused first on the challenge of integrating large numbers of adult immigrants and refugees with varying levels of education and skills, then looked at the steps most likely to positively impact the future of the many children of immigrants and refugees in Illinois.

Safety in the workplace is of utmost importance, particularly for an immigrant workforce with little or no access to health care.  The following article explores the harsh realities of the U.S. immigration situation and its effects on the undocumented immigrant workforce and the American health-care system.

Perils darken a shadow economy | Chicago Tribune
Illegal immigrant workers, the health-care system and taxpayers all pay a steep price

Raul Rosas lies in pain in a dark, foul-smelling hovel that resembles a shallow cave more than a basement.

Paralyzed in a workplace accident five years ago, he survives by selling fruits and vegetables from a wheelchair on a Chicago street corner. But now he is sick with a stomach infection and can’t buy medication because he has no way to get to a drugstore.

Since losing the ability to walk, Rosas’ life has shrunk to the barest existence. He is a veritable ghost, and a depleted one because he is an illegal immigrant and therefore ineligible for all government assistance beyond emergency room care.

 This article provides another example of the serious effects of employers’ failure to address language barriers and safety standards.

Fear of retaliation trumps pain | Chicago Tribune
Deaths, injuries on the job soar for illegal immigrants

Before the accident, he had warned the owner of the small Diversey Avenue dry cleaner that the pressing machine was old and dangerous. But his boss told him to forget about it and Mario, fearful of losing his job, didn’t say another word.

Then one day last winter the massive, steaming press collapsed on Mario’s left arm, melting the skin, mangling his fist and costing him a $5.70-an-hour job. There was no health insurance, no worker’s compensation benefit and no severance pay offered, Mario said.

“If you don’t have papers, you work eight or 10 hours a day, six days a week, and you don’t complain,” said the muscular, middle-age illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Much of the furor over immigration reform has been about whether undocumented workers like Mario should be allowed to stay in the U.S. or made to leave. But beyond that debate lies an undeniable fact: They face disproportionate dangers on the job.

For most Americans, the workplace is a much safer place than a decade ago. This is not the case for many Latinos, who remain trapped in an earlier, more brutal era of industrialization. They lead throwaway lives and their plight is nearly invisible because so many live in the shadows.

As the federal government takes steps to strengthen national security, these decisions will have serious implications for immigrant workers, businesses, and consumers throughout the U.S.   The following article explores the potential impact of a plan to check port worker’s IDs.

A hauling overhaul | Chicago Tribune

Plan to check port workers’ IDs may have big impact on stressed drivers who move freight worth billions

Fanning out from the mammoth ports, the drivers, nearly all of them Latino, crisscross Southern California’s congested highways in their timeworn trucks, carrying freight that ultimately will make its way to every part of the country.But a number of the drivers are undocumented immigrants, and they may soon find themselves out of work. So, too, freight may begin backing up across the country.

That’s because the federal government, in its drive to boost port security, is on the verge of issuing guidelines for checking identities of the nation’s 750,000 port workers, including 110,000 or so who work as haulers.

The categorization of people into ethnic or cultural groups can lead to false generalizations and allow for the dismissal of differences among individuals in a certain group. This article explores the social construction of the Hispanic identity and its consequences.

Why write an article on Hispanic identity, now? The answer to this question is not difficult: it has to do with demographics. And demographics are they key to economic and political power for any group.There are obvious pragmatic reasons why companies in the United States have been investing in this segment at a record rate. Census data has shown that the U.S. Hispanic market is the largest ethnic group in the country, comprising roughly 14 percent of the overall population and with more than $850 billion in purchasing power. By 2050, the Hispanic segment is projected to make up a quarter of the U.S. population, displacing the white population as the majority in many American cities.

Hardly a week goes by when you read another story about bad translations and how they not only provide endless laughs, but also can affect the bottom line. From the Jakarta Post, this author writes about a recent publication put out by the Indonesian Tourism Agency:

…people could get a headache reading the 25-page book because it is full of grammatical and lingual mistakes.He then quoted two paragraphs from the book.

“Today, Jakarta is the city with its age of 479 year, and has a very strong tie with Dutch Nation, that colonized Indonesia more than ñ 3 centuries period.

“From the old port Sunda Kelapa, Kota area up to Merdeka Palace and its around constitute an invaluable worth and still well-kept its originality and giving a special color for Jakarta city.”

Readers might well scratch their head trying to understand these two sentences.

They might take pity on Jakarta administration’s.

They may even make the assumption that no Indonesians can write in English well.

Or they might think the administration was so poor they could not afford a professional writer.

Worse, they might think the money allocated to hire a professional writer was corrupted by certain officials, particularly given Indonesia is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

…Books, magazines and brochures or leaflets can be powerful promotional tools, but only if they are well written.

If the city administration wants to promote tourism through the publication of books like Jakarta Heritage or brochures written in English to attract foreign tourists, they must hire a professional writer who can write in English well.

…You are what you write.

Couldn’t agree more.