Oakland City Council in California voted last night to require city workers in many departments to speak Chinese or Spanish under a first-in-the-nation ordinance that sets a model which other US cities with large immigrant populations could follow.
Officials said the new law will at first require about 80 of the city's 4,500 workers, or slightly less than 2 per cent, to be bilingual. The measure is expected to affect25 of the city's 65 departments.
Census figures show that 35 per cent of Oakland residents are Asian or Latino, making it crucial to have bilingual workers such as police officers or firefighters in areas with large numbers of limited English-speaking residents, supporters of the measure said.
The City Council voted 7 to 0 for the measure that calls for important city departments - such as health or emergency services - that deal with the public to hire a sufficient number of bilingual employees.
The measure is aimed at ensuring that residents who speak limited English have equal access to basic city services and are able to do things such as filling out hospital forms or calling 911.
No current employees will lose their jobs for not speaking other language because the new positions would be filled through attrition. Each city department will also decide how many bilingual workers it needs.