CYMRU/WALES: COUNCIL STAFF 'AFRAID' TO SPEAK WELSH - CLAIM

The ongoing campaign to encourage private business in Cymru (Wales) to give equal status to the Welsh and English languages made some progress earlier this month as a multinational company agreed to make a full review of its working procedures.

Full details of the case have yet to be released, but it seems that a claim of unfair dismissal has been successfully made by an employee of Siemans Healthcare Limited, who were accused of preventing their employees from speaking Welsh at work. Gwyneth Green of Caernafon, North Wales won substantial compensation against her employees after the case was prepared under Race Relations legislation.

After a highly publicised case last year involving a travel agent in Wales asking employees to sign a work contract requesting them not to speak Welsh in the work place, a number of other complaints have come forward from employees in Wales with similar grievances.

Earlier this month an employee at Swansea Council said that staff at the Council were "afraid" to speak Welsh in certain sections of the council. The employee had called a local radio programme following an embarrassing Welsh road sign mix up. The employee, who has not been named, said on the radio phone-in:

"There are Welsh speakers in the department that could have avoided this latest embarrassment for the council. But if they are aware of what happened to me they may be afraid to lift their heads above the parapet and show that they are Welsh speakers.

"I was banned and disciplined for speaking Welsh in a certain section of the council, even on the phone to my own family, between 1997 and 1999.

"Later, following redeployment, I had further complaints and disciplinary action for speaking Welsh in the workplace and listening to Radio Cymru when working on my own. I have no motives here other than to protect the integrity of my mother tongue, Welsh-speaking employees of the authority and in the public interest of openness and transparency."

Swansea Council denied the allegations adding that they were "absolutely not true". A Spokesman for Cymuned, the Welsh housing and language group said:

"There is clearly some problem or the embarrassing road sign mix up would never have happened.

"In some parts of the Swansea area, predominantly in the Swansea Valley area, some communities have some of the highest proportions of Welsh speakers left in Wales.

"As a result this is certainly not the authority where we would expect this to be happening."

Currently only the public sector in Cymru is obliged to provide equal parity in all spheres between the two language of Cymraeg (Welsh) and English, but there has been a growing demand in recent years for a new Welsh language act to extend that provision to private enterprise.

Last month Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society) sent a 'final warning' to the Welsh Government demanding that they live up to their promise of passing new legislation to give further rights to Welsh users when dealing with private companies.

J B Moffatt

Director of Information

Celtic League

28/11/08