Former Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Workers Protest English-Only Test

Former Airport Workers Protest English-Only Test
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA

Published on: 02/12/04

A move to tighten airport security by requiring that
workers read enough English to pass a written test has
cost a group of Somali refugees their jobs at
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The workers claim the rule has been inconsistently
applied and that they were blindsided when they had to
take tests on security procedures without a translator
last month.
 
Ten Somalis — nine women and one man — failed the test
and were fired from their jobs as airplane cleaners.
They had held the jobs for up to seven years.
 
"We'd love to go back to our job," said Safio Mohamed,
40, one of the Somali women and an American citizen.
 
"We know the rules and regulations of homeland
security," she said through an interpreter. "We didn't
have any security problems at all. This is
discrimination because of a language barrier."
 
The Somalis worked for Aramark Aviation Services, a
contractor for Delta Air Lines. About 950 Aramark
workers at Hartsfield-Jackson clean Delta planes and
check them for weapons or suspicious items.
 
Hartsfield-Jackson officials say that after the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks, they moved to tighten
rules on security badges given to airport workers. One
way was to require that they take tests in English
when renewing badges.
 
"Our signage out here, all of our signs, are in
English," airport spokesman Robert Kennedy said. "If
something happens, they have to be able to react and
direct passengers in case there's an emergency.
 
"Everyone who has a badge has the responsibility to
help if something happens," he said. "What if there
were a fire? How could they warn people of the
danger?"
 
The airport shows workers a video about security rules
before they take the test. The airport also submits
workers' fingerprints to the FBI to weed out
criminals.
 
Kennedy said the English-only rule took effect at the
end of 2001, but an airport spokeswoman later said
it's unclear how or when the rule was announced to
contractors.
 
The Somali women claim they were able to use a
translator when they took a test to renew their badges
in March 2002. At the renewal last month, they said,
were they told they could not use a translator to read
them the test questions and multiple-choice answers.
They also blame internal politics at Aramark, claiming
their supervisor set them up to fail while helping
others pass the test.
 
Kennedy said the airport's security department has no
knowledge of anyone using an interpreter since the end
of 2001.
 
Henry Panell, assistant general manager at Aramark,
said he expects more foreign-born employees to lose
jobs this year as they take the test without
interpreters.
 
Aramark has workers from Africa, Vietnam and Central
America, Panell said. The company has offered English
classes, and some Vietnamese workers took them and
later passed their tests, he said.
 
Ali Omar, executive director of the Georgia Somali
Community Center in Clarkston, said most of the fired
women have three or four children. Between work on the
night shift and family obligations during the day,
they don't have time for English classes, he said. He
served as translator for the fired workers in a recent
interview that he arranged to call attention to their
situation.
 
The Transportation Security Administration, set up
after 9/11 to federalize most elements of airport
security, leaves the details of issuing badges up to
each airport.
 
Los Angeles International Airport doesn't test workers
but rather conducts training to teach basic security
rules about the restricted sections of the airport,
LAX spokeswoman Nancy Castles said. The class is given
in English, she said. The airport gives a test in
English or Spanish to those who must drive carts
around the airfield, she said.
 
Boston's Logan International Airport asks workers a
series of questions when they receive badges, a
spokesman said. If the worker needs an interpreter,
the airport or the contractor can call one, the
spokesman said, adding it hasn't been a big issue.
 
Delta is responsible for credentialing employees in
the airport's secure area. At the Delta maintenance
center, which has 7,000 workers, the company gives the
test on a computer. But it has allowed contractors who
provide ancillary services to provide Spanish
translation for workers who need it, said Greg Mears,
general manager of safety and security at the
facility.
 
The Somali women said through their translator they
are grateful America rescued them from the civil war
in their country. But they are upset about the way
they lost their jobs. They earn $8.10 per hour and
still support relatives in refugee camps. Omar is
helping them fill out unemployment paperwork.
 
"There are other Somalis who work over there, and they
are worried they're going to be out of a job soon,"
Omar said.
 

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