Uppsala social services manager issues ’Swedish only’ decree

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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.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Haparanda residents defend their right to speak Finnish (30.8.2007)

Links:
  The Sweden Finnish Delegation

Helsingin Sanomat