I learned to sing the creed in junior high school. It was one of the must know songs for students of my generation. Actually, I still remember the words and I sing them from time to time. It is a beautiful composition. I sing it to remind myself that in spite of all the problems that exist here, there are people who see this nation as a place of sanctuary.
I read a story over on The Takeaway about a group of Filipino nurses who were fired because they were using their native language to have a conversation on their lunch break. They work in a English only situation.
Let me make my position clear on how I feel about the use of English in the workplace. English is the national language that is used to communicate in the United States.
I think that in the workplace employees need to use English as the standard language of communication. I also think that people have the right to use their bi-lingual abilities. Especially if they are not working in their official capacity at that time.
There are a couple of points about this article that came to mind while I was reading the details.
If the nurses are restricted to use of English only and a patient only spoke Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) what would hospital officials do? Would the patient be sent to another facility that allow bi-lingual usage in the workplace? Would the nurses dare to use their native language in that type of situation? It is difficult for me to figure out just what would happen.
In our hospitals there are bi-lingual and trilingual employees. It is necessary to have people who speak Spanish on staff. It is also necessary to have people who speak Somalian as well. French is also used from time to time because it is a common denominator language for many Africans. This reflects the actual demographics of our city population.
The fact that the Filipino nurses could use English proficiently enough to work in that sector of the health care industry says a lot about their literacy abilities. There are native born Americans who cannot use the national language standard on that level.
I feel that their rights were violated. Freedom of speech is not limited to the use of English. It is a right to express an opinion, or converse freely as human beings tend to do during the day. The nurses were having lunch. Not working in their official capacity at that time. It is beyond my understanding why their conversation in Tagalog was grounds for dismissal? Are people in this nation that uptight and fearful of the expanding diversity that is America?
I wonder if that same group of nurses spoke one of the European languages during their lunch hour would they still be on the staff? Yes, I am going there because the situation has the potential for ethnic bias as well.
The nurses have filed a lawsuit against the hospital in Baltimore. It is going to be noteworthy to see how the judge will rule on this case.
1 comments:
Sounds like whoever made this decision is from a village somewhere missing an idiot.
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