Workers for a UK firm based in France have gone on strike because their bosses only speak English.
All 184 staff at Thermal Ceramics in Saint-Marcellinen-Forez are staging walkouts every day over what they see as Anglo-Saxon industrial imperialism.
Workers’ representative Thierry Juvin said: “We say ‘hello’ in French but then communication stops.
Every meeting is an ordeal. We have to have someone who translates everything into English, then anything our boss says has to be translated into French.
“This makes dialogue extremely slow.”
The Loire valley factory produces ceramic fibre insulation – but walkouts have been held most days after English-speaking bosses took over earlier this year.
Staff at the factory had previously not gone on strike for more than two decades.
Pierrick Dumont, of the CGT union, said: “I don’t think it’s up to us to speak English. We are French workers based in France.”
Thermal Dynamics chief executive Diane Gaillot said: “The situation is temporary.
“We are recruiting and the next director will certainly speak French.”
Source: DailyRecord.co.uk
Thanks to @PaulEdgar1 on Twitter
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United Kingdom
Local time: 06:54
English to Slovak
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Then you bloody shouldn't be working for (or looking for a job with) an foreign employer if you can't speak their language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
France
Local time: 07:54
Member
English to Hungarian
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Then you bloody shouldn't be working for (or looking for a job with) an foreign employer if you can't speak their language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Rad,
According to the article, "... English-speaking bosses took over earlier this year."
In all likelihood, a great part of the workers had been recruited before. Some of them may feel rather uncomfortable using a language at work they do not master sufficiently. Would you suggest them to start packing?
Would be interesting to see what would happen in the UK if someone tried to impose another language on the workers.
Attila
Spain
Local time: 07:54
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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Then you bloody shouldn't be working for (or looking for a job with) an foreign employer if you can't speak their language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Probably the company was a bit clumsy to send a boss who only speaks English. I clearly understand the French workers' stance, although I am quite certain that the higher management and foremen in the company speak some English.
Georgia
Local time: 09:54
English to French
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Most of these workers probably speak some English, but I suspect this is a matter of principle to them: you're working in France, with French people, so you should speak French!
I agree with Attila - how would British workers react if they had to speak a foreign language at work, although they're in the UK?
On the other hand, being French, they will always find some reason to go on strike
Most of these workers probably speak some English, but I suspect this is a matter of principle to them: you're working in France, with French people, so you should speak French!
I agree with Attila - how would British workers react if they had to speak a foreign language at work, although they're in the UK?
On the other hand, being French, they will always find some reason to go on strike
(by the way, I'm French too!)
Have a great day
Cécile ▲ Collapse
Local time: 07:54
English to Hungarian
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On the other hand, being French, they will always find some reason to go on strike
(by the way, I'm French too!)
I'm glad a French person said it first.
They have interpretatio at meetings where the English boss is present, and they're getting a French-speaking boss soon anyway. I don't see what the fuss is all about, except for having a longer than usual coffe break.
Brazil
Local time: 02:54
French to English
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On the other hand, being French, they will always find some reason to go on strike
(by the way, I'm French too!)
I'm glad a French person said it first.
They have interpretatio at meetings where the English boss is present, and they're getting a French-speaking boss soon anyway. I don't see what the fuss is all about, except for having a longer than usual coffe break.
The article said they complained of imperialism... Not having more details, this could also be just another way that the workers are expressing their hatred of a particular nationality (of their new boss) or the fact that what they really resent is to have a boss who is not French, and, on top of it, of a nationality they dislike, maybe hate.
Multiculturalism and globalization, not in our company!
Apparently the company isn't even French, which makes the workers' claim even more shaky. I have never heard complaints from the French, for example, when their companies establish themselves in China, and send over their French CEOs who do not speak Chinese, that this is horrible language imperialism.
Typical.
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:54
Member (2008)
English to French
+ ...
They are always on strike (the article said there hadn't been any industrial action in the company for twenty years, but don't let the facts stop you). They spend their days having coffee breaks. You'll see they have been stuffing their faces with baguette and camembert (unpasteurised, for goodness sake!).
Anyway, they never work, they are lazy, disgusting, frog-eating labour union-lovers, and on top of all that, they insist to speak their own language in the privacy o... See more
They are always on strike (the article said there hadn't been any industrial action in the company for twenty years, but don't let the facts stop you). They spend their days having coffee breaks. You'll see they have been stuffing their faces with baguette and camembert (unpasteurised, for goodness sake!).
Anyway, they never work, they are lazy, disgusting, frog-eating labour union-lovers, and on top of all that, they insist to speak their own language in the privacy of their own country! My, my, next thing you know, they'll want their bosses to refrain from being imperialist English-only-Rule-Britannia twats. They're all communists, you know, these French people, with their 1789 Révolution Française. They don't like business, they don't like work, they don't like effort. No wonder they are such a poor country with a GDP the size of a peanut.
What? You are telling me they are the fifth biggest economy in the world? Bigger than the UK? How do they do it? Must be all the camembert. It's unnatural, I am telling you.
Well, this French worker has to go back to work because, you know, the next walk-out won't organise itself. ▲ Collapse
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:54
Member (2004)
English to Italian
double post!
[Edited at 2011-04-23 12:17 GMT]
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:54
Member (2004)
English to Italian
replace some of your items with pasta and pizza and you have the Italians...
Terrible really!
They are always on strike (the article said there hadn't been any industrial action in the company for twenty years, but don't let the facts stop you). They spend their days having coffee breaks. You'll see they have been stuffing their faces with baguette and camembert (unpasteurised, for goodness sake!).
Anyway, they never work, they are lazy, disgusting, frog-eating labour union-lovers, and on top of all that, they insist to speak their own language in the privacy of their own country! My, my, next thing you know, they'll want their bosses to refrain from being imperialist English-only-Rule-Britannia twats. They're all communists, you know, these French people, with their 1789 Révolution Française. They don't like business, they don't like work, they don't like effort. No wonder they are such a poor country with a GDP the size of a peanut.
What? You are telling me they are the fifth biggest economy in the world? Bigger than the UK? How do they do it? Must be all the camembert. It's unnatural, I am telling you.
Well, this French worker has to go back to work because, you know, the next walk-out won't organise itself.
Local time: 07:54
German to English
...sending someone who can't communicate in French. Maybe it reflects the Brit idea towards foreign languages (as far as I know, no foreign lanugage qualification now needed for university entry).
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:54
Dutch to English
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Firstly they will not be in the know of everything that goes on, because... they haven't heard what is going on unless someone has explained it to them. Consequently, they will communicate amongst themselves, producing their own thoughts which are apart from everything else, like an expat community really, and in the w... See more
Firstly they will not be in the know of everything that goes on, because... they haven't heard what is going on unless someone has explained it to them. Consequently, they will communicate amongst themselves, producing their own thoughts which are apart from everything else, like an expat community really, and in the worst case totally beside the point. If they are real twats (sorry), they will also think that they know best despite the fact that they know nothing really. I have first-hand experience of this kind.
Secondly they will get paranoid about what people are saying about them. Very annoying. This is only for people with little self-confidence, though. First-hand experience of this kind too unfortunately.
Thirdly, they will not be able to deal with absolutely everything, certainly not with clients, because they do not speak the language. Consequently, they will have to give guidance, but through an interpreter. The latter not really worth the name, because it is probably someone picked from the office who speaks the language a bit better than the rest (at best). Or in the worst case, nobody at all. They will just presume that everyone knows English. Nothing more annoying. First-hand experience as well.
Fourthly, they will not be able to deal appropriately with management issues as they are not part of the culture. So they will manage the English way in this case, and that with French workers, who are used to a somewhat different approach. They will not understand for the life of them, that their approach may be incompatible with what their employees expect. How can they 'manage' them?
And fifthly, the employee feels from the start that he is worth less than his manager. His manager namely did not even take the time and effort to learn his language (I have been in this position too). How does that give a good first impression? how does this evoke the respect a manager should have for his employee, if only because the manager only shines due to his employee, not due to himself? a manager namely only manages people. If he does not manage well, maybe due to language problems, his team will not attain the results that are required. Where is he then?
So, actually, the company had better not employed anyone and sought someone who met the requirements from the start. The team would have managed themselves for a short time.
In this particular case, it is really a bit weird. They could have asked a director from another factory to take care of business. ▲ Collapse
Brazil
Local time: 02:54
French to English
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...sending someone who can't communicate in French. Maybe it reflects the Brit idea towards foreign languages (as far as I know, no foreign lanugage qualification now needed for university entry).
I mean if only it had been Swahili or Basque or Hungarian, but no, the workers were asked to know a bit of English to communicate with their new boss.
That's really pushing it.
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:54
French to English
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Maybe one of the clichés about the French is that they often go on strike, and I won't argue with that, but as translators, we all know that no culture is perfect, that each comes with some good and some bad, so I am somewhat disappointed by some of the radical views expressed above.
So I don't think anyone wins here.
[Edited at 2011-04-23 20:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
Local time: 22:54
English to Portuguese
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Spain
Local time: 07:54
English to Spanish
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I'm sorry, I'll be the first person to say the more languages you speak the better, so all these employees are getting s... See more
I'm sorry, I'll be the first person to say the more languages you speak the better, so all these employees are getting something out of this, but come on it would be a lot cheaper to teach the bosses Spanish.
Also lets not forget showing some respect for the country and the people, after all if you are working and living in a country the least you can do is to learn to speak the language , but nooooooo everyone else is expected to speak English.
Lets face it, it might be a cliche, but English speaking people aren't exactly famous for their grasp of other languages. ▲ Collapse
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