BANANA DRAMA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Banana drama: Portuguese manager forced out of British fruit-packing factory... because he doesn’t speak Polish

Meetings and training sessions 'all conducted in Polish'

Paulo Franco 'told to quit' after complaining to bosses

By Ross Slater

On 10th December 2011


A supervisor at Britain’s biggest banana-packing factory claims he was forced out of his job after complaining that he was unable to communicate with his mainly Polish staff.
Paulo Franco says it was virtually impossible to work at the Fyffes plant in Coventry without being able to speak Polish.

Key meetings and training sessions were all conducted in the language, he alleges.
He claims that when he tried to speak to workers in English, they would simply tell him to learn Polish.

An English colleague even downloaded a language translation app on to his mobile phone so that he could do his job.
Mr Franco, 37, was shocked to discover the language gap shortly after starting at the factory last month.
‘I couldn’t believe what was happening,’ said Portuguese-born Mr Franco, who came to Britain in 2000 and is a fluent English speaker.




‘All the supervisors were Polish apart from me and one Englishman. And of 300 packers, almost all of them were Polish.
‘I speak four languages – Portuguese, English, French and Spanish – but none helped. I was told if I wanted to get on, I should learn Polish. It’s crazy. I spent nine years studying English, yet here in England it’s Polish I need to speak.’

Mr Franco, an experienced factory line manager, was taken on by Fyffes for the £9.23-an-hour job after making contact via the Staffline recruitment agency.

He had a 30-minute interview with Fyffes director Mike Cartledge, but Mr Franco says he was not warned he would need to understand Polish.
‘He told me he wanted new guys with experience to improve things,’ said Mr Franco. ‘When I got to the factory floor, I found the language used was Polish. The supervisor in charge of the training had very poor English so he gave instructions in Polish.
‘I was in charge of 18 packers on my line: one Russian, the rest were Polish. They’d look at me blankly when I spoke and say they didn’t understand me.
‘It was an impossible job. I wanted to change some practices in the factory but without Polish I couldn’t attempt to change anything. The packers would laugh and say, “Learn Polish, mate.” ’

Mr Franco, who lives in Coventry with his Portuguese girlfriend, complained to Mr Cartledge in a letter two weeks ago.
He wrote: ‘All the training has been provided in a low level of English, causing misinterpretations, and most of the line workers do not understand the basic instructions. At meetings, Polish replaces English, causing communication breakdowns.’
After sending the letter, he was told he had a ‘chip on his shoulder’ and was later asked to leave his job. He has since filed a grievance procedure against Fyffes and Staffline alleging harassment and unequal treatment.
Mr Franco said: ‘I’ve nothing against Polish people but I’m sad to see this happen in a great country like England. I don’t know why English people tolerate situations like this.

'They’ll lose their identity if something isn’t done. Poles are guests in this country and should learn the language.’
An English supervisor at Fyffes, who did not want to be named, resorted to downloading the translation app to understand Polish words. He explained: ‘I didn’t know what my staff were saying.’
Another quality controller at the factory, which packs ten million bananas a week, said: ‘The senior management is all English but on the factory floor you have to speak Polish if you want to know what’s going on.’
Fyffes brand manager Paul Barrett said: ‘Our staff need a minimum standard of English and are tested before they start. But you will never change the fact that people prefer their native tongue. You can’t ban people speaking in their own language.’

He added: ‘Paulo raised these issues with us and we were carrying out our own assessment. He became agitated about his interpretation of what was happening. We got back on to the agency to say it was not working out.’
Fyffes has been importing tropical fruit for 123 years. It has 20 sites globally, including five in Britain.
Last year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that Forza AW, a meat-packing firm in Norfolk, effectively barred non-Poles from jobs by conducting health-and-safety training in Polish.
Think-tank Migration Watch says Poles constitute three-quarters of the estimated 800,000 migrants who have arrived in Britain from former Eastern Bloc countries since their admission to the EU in 2004.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1gEV3aVzP

[Nanees]

I thought this was about that story on BBC. That shabaab banned bananas for women unless thy were eaten cautiously and rhythmically under the supervision of a sheikh. Apparently they are bad for estrogen levels and the sheikhs are there to use Quran in the place of western medicine in case of emergency.

[Daanyeer]

I thought this was about that story on BBC. That shabaab banned bananas for women unless thy were eaten cautiously and rhythmically under the supervision of a sheikh. Apparently they are bad for estrogen levels and the sheikhs are there to use Quran in the place of western medicine in case of emergency.

to be HONEST i have no CLUE about this development...When BBC did AIR this STORY??? Is it TRUE???.. could give me more INFORMATION if u are not BUSY in the KITHCEN??....JUST..Daanyeer JOKING from the SURFACE of his CHEST !!!!!

[Nanees]

Lool bro I'm serious. Here's a link to the video

[Alphanumeric]

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.....


This has been stuck in my head since logging in and seeing that title. Thank you.