Speak English, Not Spanish? You're Fired
In Oregon, firefighters who are crew bosses are being laid off or demoted simply because they are supervising firefighters who can't speak English -- even if there's just one firefighter on a 20-person crew who speaks only Spanish. "No clear answer" from the state on why they don't just require the workers to speak English.
Absolute horse shit. I had a feeling this shit was going to start happening more and more.
vlad at March 26, 2008 6:50 AM
No kidding. I could understand this in some place like Southern California or Southern Texas, a border state with issues similar to europe when it comes to language diversity. But Oregon? Its nothing short of an outrage that even if there were a dozen such language differences, they would fire a supervisor.
For gods sake, lets say that there IS a major fire, and one fire fighter who speaks only spanish.
Alright the bilingual supervisor has to shout instructions in an emergency...then shout it again in spanish. A warning or instructions by someone else senior on the scene might not be understood, after all in the smoke and flame how likely is it the person is immediately identifiable, or it will even occur to an english speaker in OREGON, to try a different language.
Stupidity at its height that policy.
Robert H. Butler at March 26, 2008 7:03 AM
Robert -
No kidding. I could understand this in some place like Southern California or Southern Texas, a border state with issues similar to europe when it comes to language diversity. But Oregon?
Not that this doesn't piss me off too, but Oregon (especially Portland) has a huge Spanish speaking population. The idea that this is a problem limited to border states, is rather naive in the extreme. Between agri workers and general laborers, we have a lot of hispanics in the area. The same was true back in Michigan, where I am originally from.
Indeed, Portland also has very substantial Russian, Vietnamese and Chinese populations, enough that our local library system includes Russian, Vietnamese and Mandarin language sections. Our favorite librarian in our closest branch, speaks fluent Russian, Spanish and French. (he grew up in the Willamette valley, Oregon farm country)
On the subject of the post, for many reasons, I think that the ones getting fired should be the firemen who speak no English.
First of all, the majority of people they might have to rescue, aren't going to speak Spanish. If the firemen needs to give them instructions, they need to do so in a language the victim understands.
Secondly, it should not be society's responsibility to cater to those who cannot integrate into our culture. I am not one for demanding that they all become "Americanized" as it were, but they should damn well learn to speak English or accept that there will be a lot of limits on what they are able to do here. Don't want to learn English? Then accept that your going to be stuck in shitty, exploitative jobs. (construction being an exception, non-English speakers can actually make a damn good living without much problem)
DuWayne at March 26, 2008 10:56 AM
If you are an emergency or crisis management team (i.e., Navy SEALS, FDNY, SWAT, etc.), you want your team to speak fluently one language - whatever the language (Latin, Urdu, Ancient Armenian, whatever). You want the boss to have to bark orders only once, in one language, and you want everyone on the team to understand completely and react quickly.
I, for one, do not want to get shot by a bank robber because the SWAT commander had to relay orders in English, Chinese, Spanish, and Swahili before anyone could make a move.
Conan the Grammarian at March 26, 2008 11:09 AM
?Que? No me entiendo.
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buy acomplia online at March 26, 2008 2:29 PM
Whoever hired firefighters that only spoke Spanish, for an existing crew that did not speak Spanish, should be fired. What's next, deaf firefighters who need ASL support? I guess you could have Spanish-only crews. But don't expect political correctness to be a cheap policy. You'll pay for it with lives.
Norman at March 27, 2008 3:15 PM
I have only one question.
How the devil did the person who does NOT speak English...get through the interview?
Robert H. Butler at March 27, 2008 10:35 PM
What Robert said.
Someone please fix my ignorance: How do people who don't speak English become permanent residents of this country? And if they're illegal, how do they become firefighters?
DaveG at March 29, 2008 3:27 PM
While I absolutely believe that everyone who comes here to live permanently should learn English, this policy makes some sense when you consider the actual setting. These aren't firefighters in the familiar sense of the word. Fire houses don't have crew bosses. These are wildfire crews, and they are low-paying, back-breaking jobs that attract workers in the same way that agricultural jobs traditionally have. They're migrant and seasonal, and when the flames are spreading like they have in recent years, difficult to fill. If the people stepping up to do this dangerous part-time job with few if any benefits are Spanish speakers, maybe some accommodation isn't as crazy as it sounds at first.
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