Workforce Language Services

As Mattawa, Washington’s population has increased incrementally over the past twenty years, so have the difficulties borne from the language barrier.  Since the majority of this small town’s population growth has come from Mexican immigrants, many of whom are migrant workers, the town is trying to catch up to being able to provide services in Spanish. 

That language barrier has engulfed the community, which has grown over the last 20 years from 300 to about 3,200 year-round residents. Nine out of 10 Mattawa residents speak Spanish at home, and 8 out of 10 adults speak English “less than very well,” according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

The Columbia River basin community, surrounded by miles of fruit orchards and vineyards, has tried to deal with its language barrier informally.

From the first gas station to the last retail shop, signs advertise goods and services in Spanish and English. The tiny library offers bilingual story time for families.

The U.S. Department of Justice began working on a comprehensive plan to address the language barrier with city government and the police department after a Civil Rights complaint was filed. 

Adopted in March, the plan is unique in Washington and is seen as a bellwether for cities with similar demographics. The plan requires Mattawa to employ at least one bilingual employee during regular business hours and to make vital information available in Spanish as well as English. It also requires the police to have qualified interpreters on call at all times.

The interesting twist on this plan is that it is required, where many communities with similar demographics have taken some of these measures of their own volition.  Of course, these measures take money and the main objection to implementing plans to alleviate the language barrier. 

To read the full article, click here.

Texas requires that all cadets in basic training take 16 hours of Spanish classes.  While 16 hours is hardly enough to learn to communicate in Spanish, at least it’s a start.  The Waco Police Department also has various strategies for overcoming the language barrier: they can dispatch a Spanish-speaking officer, have a bilingual dispatcher speak with the victim, or access a language line. 

The academy’s Spanish instructor explains the importance of having more police officers who are at least marginally proficient at Spanish:

“How much can anybody retain in 16 hours,” said Best, the MCC academy Spanish instructor. “You have to go out there and use it.”

In addition to those 16 state-required hours in basic training, officers are given additional state Spanish language requirements as they advance in their departments. And departments might have additional Spanish language requirements.

“I personally think it needs to be taught for an hour each day in basic training,” Best said.

She added, “We are making an effort. It’s important. Our job is to serve and protect all citizens. It helps to be able to communicate with everybody.”

To read the full article, click here.

George Diaz’s op-ed piece in the Orlando Sentinel lambasts the way an English-only rule was enforced in Florida’s Seminole County school cafeterias.  This blog recently linked to the news about the transfer of cafeteria workers after they failed to heed the application of the English-only in the workplace rule. 

As Diaz states, it didn’t have to turn out this way.  But as immigration has turned into a political and social battle, language use has become a symbol  for both sides. 

From Diaz’s piece:

Any workplace involves a mix of personalities, some of whom clash for various reasons. Language can be a volatile trigger point. As someone who’s bilingual, I’m cognizant of the barriers language can create.

It’s rude to constantly speak Spanish if it offends co-workers, but there’s nothing wrong with breaking out the espa�ol now and then. It’s not out of disrespect for my English-only friends. It’s out of respect for my Hispanic culture, and the inseparable ties that bind. Big difference.

Communication breakdowns happen. Maybe someone feels people are talking about them behind their back. Maybe someone feels they are being overwhelmed by another language. All valid issues.

In a perfect world (insert sarcasm here), both sides talk it out — in English — and the workplace continues its everyday grind. In a reactionary, intolerant workplace, you have Seminole school officials coming up with a bogus excuse to disguise the underlying problem of cultures clashing.

The situation in Seminole County has already hit the boiling point, but can serve as a lesson for other regions, companies, and industries: get cultural comptetency training in your place of business.  I’d hope that education about working with diverse staff would create a workplace environment in which people can work through language barriers rather than wage a political and cultural war because of it.

In sharp contrast to California contractors focusing on workplace safety, many Massachusetts employers seem to be sidestepping the blame for workplace deaths.  The MA AFL-CIO just released a report detailing the increase in workplace deaths. 

The report details specific cases of workplace fatalities and finds that the average fine that OSHA levvied in 2007 for accidents resulting in death was $5,000.

The findings cite some of the issues that have contribute to the rising number of deaths, the first dealing with immigrants:

Disproportionately killed on the job, immigrants accounted for 20 percent (16/80) of workplace fatalities, while their representation in the workforce was 16.97 percent in 2007. Immigrants suffer from poor working conditions, lack of training, employer exploitation coupled with fear of retaliation and deportation for speaking up about hazards.

The most frustrating part of the situation is that employers, rather than accepting responsibility and acting to solve the problems, seem to find that fines are simply the cost of doing business, as quoted by the Executive Director of the MA Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health.

To read the entire article and find the link to the full report, click here.

At a recent conference in California, the strengths of the Latino population as well as the challenges of ensuring their safety were discussed. 

The increase in workplace fatalities for Latinos has been discussed often recently in the media, an this article provided a few answers for making sure that Spanish-speaking construction workers become adequately trained:

• provide saftey signs in pictures, rather than words (many Mexican immigrants working in these industries are not literate in their native language)
• translate written safety materials into Spanish
• use bilingual supervisors to not only explain safety procedures, but to demonstrate them and provide time for questions and answers.

The article also gives an explanation for why Latinos may be resistent to following through with safety procedures:

“Strong Latino family ties and high work standards make them an asset to the community and employers,” Mr. Lopez said. “Latinos are willing to work hard and put in long hours – often without taking required breaks – to care for their families and do the best job for employers.”

However, this sometimes leads to risk taking and a sense of fearlessness – in order to please their bosses – without concern for consequences such as strains, hernias and even fatalities, Mr. Lopez said.

Click here for the full article.

A brief article in the New York Times notes that very few U.S. companies offer language training for employees, despite the growing number of immigrants in the workforce.  While many immigrants come to the U.S. with marketable skills and degrees, only 40 percent speak English. 

To cope, many employers are now hiring bilingual managers, the survey found. Conference Board researchers say investing in a language training program allows employers to recruit the best available talent, regardless of their language limitations.

While this is a good way to go about recruiting talent, I wonder when employers will make the same commitment to providing opportunities for their English-speaking employees to become more competitive in the global business world.  This is especially important as more U.S. companies move off-shore, but it seems that managers in China, India, and Latin America are expected to learn English, not the other way around.

The 1oth Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival just drew to a close in Montreal, where attendance was up nine percent from last year.  Linda Leith, the founder/director of this literary extravaganza attributes the increased attendance to the multilingual offerings.  Authors gave readings in Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic, and the crowds surpassed expectations. 

Leith shared her excitement at the response to the festival’s multicultural flair:

“We’re always trying to look after all our various communities,” Leith said. Over 300 authors participated in 193 events at this year’s festival.

“We’re moving on many fronts here,” said Leith, sounding like a seasoned military strategist. “Young people, different communities, different interests - and we’re reaching them.”

As the U.S. becomes increasingly polarized on issues surrounding providing services in different languages, it’s refreshing to see our northern neighbors excited rather than fearful about creating forums for speakers of languages other than English.

Click here for more details about the event and next year’s plans.

This recently released report found that the most dangerous industries are agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting.  While construction, an industry in which many Latino immigrants work, wasn’t ranked as one of the most dangerous, more construction workers overall died while on the job.

The overall death rate remained the same from 2005 to 2006 except for Latinos, for whom the death rate increased from 4.7 per 100,000 to 5 per 100,000. 

The AFL-CIO’s report serves as an important reminder of what needs to be done to ensure the safety of Latinos working in historically dangerous industries:

That’s partly because Latino workers include many immigrants who tend to be concentrated in dangerous occupations, like agriculture and construction, said Maria Blanco, director of the Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at UC Berkeley’s Law School, which had studied similar issues.

Workers who don’t speak or read English are often at greater risk because they don’t understand safety instructions, Blanco said. And for some immigrants, the need for the job is so great that they’re less willing to walk away from a risky situation, she said.

“That combination has created this concentration of injuries and deaths,” said Blanco. “Two things could make a huge difference. First, job training and postings have to be bilingual. And since it’s easy to see the industries where the deaths are focused, it should be possible to have targeted accident education and enforcement.”

To read the full article and see the link to the full report, click here.