Sweden: Uppsala social services ma nager issues ’Swedish only’ decree

[Harold Schiffman]

 Uppsala social services manager issues 'Swedish only' decree


Last year, the Finnish employees at one office of the Uppsala City
Social Services Department were forbidden to speak Finnish to each
other at work. The ban has led to a dispute that is now being handled
by both the Swedish Discrimination Ombudsman and the Council of
Europe.

The decree issued by one manager provoked bad feeling among the staff
in the spring of last year. The employer stressed that the official
language of the Social Services Department is Swedish, while no other
languages must be used in public premises, including the hall and the
coffee room.  After working for the City of Uppsala for 30 years,
Finnish-speaking Tiina Kiveliö was outraged by the decree, filing a
complaint with the Discrimination Ombudsman, who transferred the
matter to the local labour union organisation.

      "I was initially employed just because I spoke Finnish", Kiveliö
reported in Uppsala on Tuesday.  "I have worked as the head of the
integration office for 20 years, handling multicultural issues.
Besides, a total of 21 different languages are represented in the
department", she argued. The problem got worse when the City of
Uppsala and the local labour union organisation made a written
agreement on the language policy, as the wording of the contract had
obviously failed.  According to the agreement, Swedish is the working
language which every employee has to use while being on duty and in
all public premises, such as the staff coffee room. The staff can use
other languages only in private communications. The Discrimination
Ombudsman was needed once again.

"It is unfortunate that the agreement is so badly written that it can
be interpreted as being discriminatory. We have been in contact with
the local labour union organisation and expect it to clarify the
matter with the employer", commented AnnChristin Hartman from the
Swedish Discrimination Ombudsman's office to Helsingin Sanomat on
Tuesday.  On the other hand, Lennart Andersson, the director
responsible for social affairs in the City of Uppsala, cannot
understand why the language issue has become such a hot topic.

      "Our working language is Swedish, while we find it beneficial
that also several other languages are spoken in the department. This
conflict has emerged in one office only", noted Andersson.The Sweden
Finnish Delegation, an organ for looking after the linguistic,
cultural, and social interests of the Finns living in Sweden, has
asked the Council of Europe for an opinion on the issue.  Sweden's
Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination is Katri Linna - an immigrant
of Finnish origin herself.

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Uppsala+social+services+manager+issues+%E2%80%99Swedish+only%E2%80%99+decree/1135232539941

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