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<h1 class="gmail-c-ArticleHeader-title">McDonald's pulls U-turn, now letting employees speak te reo Māori</h1>
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<ul class="gmail-c-ArticleHeader-wrapper"><li class="gmail-c-ArticleHeader-timestamp">12/09/2018</li><li class="gmail-c-ArticleHeader-author">
<div title="Cleo Fraser" class="gmail-c-ArticleHeader-authorProfile">
<a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/author-pages/cleo-fraser.html">
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<p>McDonald's has reversed its policy demanding employees only speak English at work. Credits: Newshub.</p>
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<p>McDonald's is directing all of its 167 stores across the country
to revise their language policy after a staff member was told they
couldn't speak te reo Māori at work.</p>
<p>Until now, employees were only allowed to speak English to their
co-workers - but thanks to a Hamilton woman, our other two official
languages can now be used.</p>
<p>Janine Eru-Taueki loves her language, and being told she couldn't speak Te Reo at work was heartbreaking.</p>
<p>"The Māori language is my world," she told Newshub. "This is Māori
Language Week, but for us speaking Māori is the norm. I speak Māori all
the time."</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/09/mcdonald-s-tells-worker-not-to-speak-te-reo-m-ori-report.html" target="_blank"><b>McDonald's tells worker not to speak te reo Māori</b></a></li></ul>
<p>Ms Eru-Taueki says she was told customers had complained, and that
she must only speak English because it could make people feel
comfortable.</p>
<p>"I don't agree, because Māori is an official language of this country," she says.</p>
<p>"Some of the customers come up and ask if they can make their order
in Māori. I was really sad the other night because I couldn't speak to
them in Māori myself."</p>
<p>A poster in the staff areas outlines McDonald's policy, reading: "We
can speak different languages, however, on the floor, English is our
McLanguage."</p>
<p>Simon Kenny from McDonald's says the Human Rights Commission advised it to have a single-language policy.</p>
<p>"The advice of using a common language makes a lot of sense in terms
of an inclusive work place and people feeling like they're not
discriminated against, so I can understand the rationale behind it."</p>
<p>The Human Rights Commission told Newshub in some specific
circumstances a common language policy may be appropriate, such as for
health and safety reasons.</p><div class="gmail-AdWrapper gmail-ArticleAdWrapper">
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<p>However it said customer service would not appear to be a valid reason.</p>
<p>McDonald's says it was a co-worker, not a customer, that complained
about Ms Eru-Taueki - but says on reflection it got it wrong.</p>
<p>The fast food giant plans to make an apology on Thursday, and has
changed its policy to give its 9000 staff more McLanguages - including
English, Te Reo and New Zealand Sign Language.</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/09/new-york-city-caf-embraces-m-ori-language-week.html" target="_blank"><b>New York City café embraces Māori Language Week</b></a></li><li><a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/09/how-s-your-te-reo-take-newshub-s-m-ori-language-quiz.html" target="_blank"><b>How's your Te Reo? Take Newshub's Māori language quiz</b></a></li></ul>
<p>The Māori Language Commission says every New Zealander has the right to speak Te Reo at work</p>
<p>"It's not acceptable in this country," NAME told Newshub.</p>
<p>"It's 2018, last time I checked - the last time I looked it's not 1818."</p>
<p>Thanks to one woman speaking out, a 'kia ora' could be served up with kai next time you're at McDonald's.</p></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>