Workforce Language Services

In a recent Chicago Tribune article, attempts to bridge racial division in order to address issues important to all races were discussed:

“Race wasn’t the way to start the conversation,” Winston said. “But what worked was bringing people of different races together to talk about shared concerns and shared values, with the idea of getting people to understand that the racial divide was not nearly as deep as it seemed.”

This statement can and should be applied to not only urban violence (as it was in this article), but also to workplace safety and workplace diversity.  Recent Workforce Language Services blog posts have focused on news about workplace safety and racial issues in the construction industry.  But getting together to talk about shared concerns and values as a way to promote workplace diversity is also a valid starting point in the corporate world.  The shared values will have more to do with the company’s bottom line rather than community safety as was discussed in the Chicago Tribune article, but the lessons can also be applied.

Cultural competency in the corporate world can definitely begin with a discussion of shared values so that employees understand that their goals more often overlap than not.  As people realize that they share similar goals, perhaps companies can appreciate and celebrate the different skills and perspectives of their employers as equally valid ways of moving toward corporate goals.

An article posted back in December on this blog showcased some of the strides that Chicago-based grassroots organizations are making in uniting Latino and Black workers as well as some of the struggles these two groups are facing as they are pitted against each other for jobs.  The organizations highlighted in the article are doing such important work: transforming the us vs. them mentality into an understanding that each group faces the same struggles.

In San Francisco, exactly the opposite is taking place at a low-income housing site.  An extremely ugly, racist, and discriminatory battle is being waged as Latinos and Blacks are being pitted against each other.  The litany of complaints against the employer is long and depressing and includes Latinos having to pay kickbacks and bribes to their supervisors, segregation of work crews, and the hiding of non-union workers when the carpenters’ union reps visited.

The display of anger and hatred that was allegedly orchestrated by the employer has had an interesting outcome:

But in San Francisco, even with the unemployment rate of African-American men hovering at three times that of Latino men, the alleged efforts at the AIMCO site to divide the two races instead had the opposite effect. The two groups have joined in a perhaps a uniquely American display of solidarity — suing their common enemy, the employer, as one.

To read the entire story, click here.

On a side note, also read the comments about the article.  The author incorrectly translated a phrase in Spanish into something in English that is much more incendiary than originally intended in Spanish and was severely taken to task.  This is a good example of the importance of translators truly understanding cultural context and the subtle nuances of both source and target language.

A detailed article in Realty Times describes some of the discriminatory practices that Latinos and other minorities face in the housing market such as predatory lending and geographic steering. 

Despite these challenges to home ownership and the fact that Latinos are more likely to be low to moderate income as compared to their non-Hispanic counterparts,

…the National Association of Realtors maintains a positive outlook for the impact of diversity on housing. “Minorities will grow evermore important to housing markets over the next 10 years, accounting for an estimated two-thirds of new households,” says Realtors.org. “They will account for more than 50 percent of first-time homebuyers by 2010, when nearly three in 10 households will be headed by a minority.

While the larger social structure may be a barrier to Latino home ownership, realtors realize that Hispanics are the future of their business, as evidenced by the tips for working with Latinos in another article from Realty Times previously posted on this blog.

Profesiones sin Barreras is a distance-learning institution dedicated to serving the vocational training needs of the adult Spanish-speaking community in the U.S. Approved and regulated by the Colorado Department of Higher Education, Private Occupational School Board, Profesiones sin Barreras offers bilingual diploma programs for careers in the most in-demand industries.Profesiones sin Barreras is committed to broadening the professional and financial opportunities available to the Spanish-speaking members of the American workforce. The School achieves its mission by appreciating the unique needs of its students and by offering programs that reflect current employment trends to ensure that its self-directed, distance-learning courses equip students with job skills essential for success. Profesiones sin Barreras’ initial course offerings include Medical Office Assistant, Start Your Own Business, Construction, and Sales and Customer Service. Students can enroll over the phone or online and pursue their courses at their own pace.

The press release also provides some statistics showing that Latinos have a significantly higher high school drop out rate than their white counterparts and also explains that, while employment figures for Latinos are improving overall, the majority are still working in low-skill level jobs.

Lexicon Marketing’s release of these distance learning courses could be a step in helping Latinos climb the career ladder.  One of the biggest barriers I see for limited English speaking youth is their inability to access training programs because they don’t speak enough English to enroll.  If they have the opportunity to study with these programs and are simultaneously working on their English skills, they may have a fighting chance of getting more than a low skill level job.

My reservation about this program is the cost.  From personal experience, I know that Ingles sin Barreras, Lexicon Marketing’s most well-known course is quite pricy.  I hope that if this is the case with Profesiones sin Barreras that those who invest their time and money in the course will find that their increased skill level provides them with job opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

I also wonder how much a person can learn through distance learning about construction, and would hope that if someone chooses this route that those who hire will recognize this course as valid.

An international research team out of Simon Fraser University has developed a thirty minute quiz to determine one’s cultural IQ. 

From the article:

The test can be used for a wide range of purposes, from determining who is best to lead a corporation’s overseas operations and which employees need cultural sensitivity training, to assessing the efficacy of individual peacekeepers, diplomats and even world leaders, the researchers said.

While the test was developed to mainly gauge people’s ability to effectively navegate cross-cultural interactions internationally, I wonder if it could be used as a tool to see where there are gaps in cultural sensitivity and knowledge in U.S.-based companies.  This might be a useful tool for these companies especially as the U.S. workforce becomes more culturally diverse. 

In both Escondido, California and Sherman, Texas police officers are beginning to take Spanish classes so as to better be able to communicate with limited English speaking residents. 

After twenty years of “dealing with the [communication] problem,”  Sherman police have decided to implement a plan for their mostly white, male officers to learn Spanish.  Even more interestingly officers will have members of the Latino community do ride-alongs with patrol officers:

In addition to the work on the computer and in the classroom, members of the Hispanic community, like Lupe’s Tamales owner John Arriazola, will be invited to ride along with the officers themselves to better understand one another.

“I think its going to be a great thing because it shows that the Sherman Police Department is sensitive to the needs of the Hispanic community.”

In a very brief blurb about Escondido’s Spanish classes starting in March, the hiring of a community-police liasion was also mentioned.  Mystifyingly, rather than get into depth about what kinds of issues the liasion might bring to police’s attention, the article ended with a statement solidying local police’s commitment to working with ICE and the Border Patrol to deport illegal aliens who break the law.  Once again, very real communication issues for those learning English are eclipsed by a discussion of illegal aliens.

Today National Public Radio reported on the disproportionately high rate of death on the job for Latinos in the U.S.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that Latino workers’ fatality rate was 21 percent higher than all workers in 2006.

The chief of Cal-OSHA speaks to why employers are not being held accountable for dangerous working conditions:

He says his agency is largely complaint-driven, and he says Latinos often don’t complain.

“Union shops are more likely to complain to us about hazards than non-union shops, and workers who are native speakers of English are more likely to complain to us than workers who are not.”

Additionally, the experience of Latinos in their home countries doesn’t lend itself to the creation of a culture in which rights are understood and exercised.  This is exacerbated by the fear of deportation that many undocumented workers feel.

While outreach about safety issues and workers’ rights is imperative, it requires a shift in viewpoint before Latino workers as a whole feel comfortable speaking up about hazardous working conditions.  In the meantime, having printed materials about safety procedures available and making sure that workers are trained in their native languages is necessary to attempt to avoid dangerous situations.