Huy Kha … has made complaint. (Photo: Bob Pearce)October 31, 2007
Andrew West, Industrial Relations Reporter
The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
THE Australian company famous for supplying hearing implants to the world has ordered its multicultural workforce to speak only English or sacrifice a pay rise.
More than half the manufacturing workers at Cochlear's Lane Cove plant came from non-English speaking countries but are under instructions to speak only English at work.
A complaint to be lodged today with the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board says Cochlear management had threatened to deny pay rises to staff who spoke foreign languages in the workplace.
One worker from Cambodia, Huy Kha, alleges that in June his manager ordered him to "speak English at all times".
At another meeting earlier this month, Mr Huy said, the manager told him it was company policy to speak English, even though none of his colleagues have any interaction with the public.
"The team leader said that if we are found speaking a foreign language we will fail our assessment to get a higher classification," he wrote in his complaint to the board. "We [were] told that if you don't speak English you'll get a warning."
Cochlear's chief executive, Chris Roberts, said he was unaware of Mr Huy's complaint but the company had "a policy of mutual respect in the workplace". Dr Roberts said: "So if there is a bunch of people in a group, they should not speak a language that cuts others out."
The Manufacturing Workers Union, which covers about half of Cochlear's workforce, estimates that two-thirds of the manufacturing staff are from non-English speaking backgrounds, including many from China, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The union's assistant secretary, Tim Ayres, said English should be the common language of the workplace but argued Cochlear management was intimidating staff, who in four ballots earlier this year - two run by the company - overwhelmingly rejected a proposed non-union employment agreement.
"We believe English language skills are very important so management and the employees can communicate effectively," Mr Ayres told the Herald. "But it's not like these people are working in a call centre or dealing with customers. They are working on a production line, really putting in a lot for Cochlear, and this is just bullying.
"When it comes to assessing staff for higher classifications, they should be judged on their work skills, not their social skills."
Cochlear is locked in a bitter dispute with its workforce and the union after management decided to move staff onto individual common law agreements when the collective agreement expires next Tuesday.
Dr Roberts said the complaint was a combination of a misunderstanding and a "beat-up" by the union, which was trying to increase membership at the plant.
Mr Ayres, however, suspects the company wants to monitor discussions among its increasingly restive staff. "This is management control for its own sake."
More than half the manufacturing workers at Cochlear's Lane Cove plant came from non-English speaking countries but are under instructions to speak only English at work.
A complaint to be lodged today with the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board says Cochlear management had threatened to deny pay rises to staff who spoke foreign languages in the workplace.
One worker from Cambodia, Huy Kha, alleges that in June his manager ordered him to "speak English at all times".
At another meeting earlier this month, Mr Huy said, the manager told him it was company policy to speak English, even though none of his colleagues have any interaction with the public.
"The team leader said that if we are found speaking a foreign language we will fail our assessment to get a higher classification," he wrote in his complaint to the board. "We [were] told that if you don't speak English you'll get a warning."
Cochlear's chief executive, Chris Roberts, said he was unaware of Mr Huy's complaint but the company had "a policy of mutual respect in the workplace". Dr Roberts said: "So if there is a bunch of people in a group, they should not speak a language that cuts others out."
The Manufacturing Workers Union, which covers about half of Cochlear's workforce, estimates that two-thirds of the manufacturing staff are from non-English speaking backgrounds, including many from China, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The union's assistant secretary, Tim Ayres, said English should be the common language of the workplace but argued Cochlear management was intimidating staff, who in four ballots earlier this year - two run by the company - overwhelmingly rejected a proposed non-union employment agreement.
"We believe English language skills are very important so management and the employees can communicate effectively," Mr Ayres told the Herald. "But it's not like these people are working in a call centre or dealing with customers. They are working on a production line, really putting in a lot for Cochlear, and this is just bullying.
"When it comes to assessing staff for higher classifications, they should be judged on their work skills, not their social skills."
Cochlear is locked in a bitter dispute with its workforce and the union after management decided to move staff onto individual common law agreements when the collective agreement expires next Tuesday.
Dr Roberts said the complaint was a combination of a misunderstanding and a "beat-up" by the union, which was trying to increase membership at the plant.
Mr Ayres, however, suspects the company wants to monitor discussions among its increasingly restive staff. "This is management control for its own sake."
1 comment:
Multi-culture? hahaha, LOL, hahaha. There is no such thing. If you don't know westerner language in the westerner land, you will be nothing more than a beggar, and that goes for the east as well. The only exception is you have your own business, and that is why many Chinese own their own restaurant, and Indian own Hotel ...
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