Boss backs down over 'Swedish only' decree
An Uppsala social services manager who recently decided to ban the use of any language other than Swedish in his department has been forced to back down.
Some 20 different languages are represented in the unit, and staff were outraged by the decree.
According to one employee, Jesper Bjurström's decision was based on the fact that he could not control what his staff were saying.
But when the ban came to the attention of the SKTF union organisation, Bjurström changed his mind.
"This matter is closed. It's been blown up out of all proportions. They can speak whatever language they like," he told local paper Upsala Nya Tidning.
Bjurström claimed that he had been misunderstood by his staff and that he just wanted to ban other languages when there were Swedes in the room.
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Some 20 different languages are represented in the unit, and staff were outraged by the decree.
According to one employee, Jesper Bjurström's decision was based on the fact that he could not control what his staff were saying.
But when the ban came to the attention of the SKTF union organisation, Bjurström changed his mind.
"This matter is closed. It's been blown up out of all proportions. They can speak whatever language they like," he told local paper Upsala Nya Tidning.
Bjurström claimed that he had been misunderstood by his staff and that he just wanted to ban other languages when there were Swedes in the room.
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