Anti-racism at work

It's not as if Tom Uburu wasn't competent at his job. The 43-year-old Kenyan accounting technician was rapidly promoted in the computer company he worked for in Co Cork. But after he reached middle management he hit a "glass ceiling", and is convinced it was largely because of his skin colour. The "racist heat" he says he felt was not dramatic, overt or abusive, but nonetheless it stifled his career.

A vacancy came up which he felt he was suitable for, but he says he didn't even get the chance to apply for it. Then a new piece of software was introduced in his department which his colleagues were given password access to, but he wasn't. "I put it down to racism, definitely," he says. "I tried very much to pretend it wasn't happening because if I dwelled too much on it would have upset me and my work and my relationships with my colleagues. But at the end of the day, I had to accept that it was racism and I can't do anything about my colour."

So Tom left that job, and is now working part-time while trying also to set up his own business. He says he would love the opportunity to prove that a black man is able to succeed in business and create employment for Irish people.

Next week is Anti-Racist Workplace Week when trade unions, employers and the Equality Authority will come together to take a firm stance on the issue. Companies including Jury's Doyle Hotel Group, Eircom, Aer Rianta and Superquinn will host events ranging from training seminars and policy statements to informal cultural exchanges and poster campaigns.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) the Irish Business and Employer's Confederation (IBEC) and the Construction Industry Federation will take part in the four-day event which will be followed up by long-term initiatives.

It's not, says Niall Crowley, chief executive of the Equality Authority, about preaching political correctness to workers and managers, but about pre-empting problems, creating a healthy working environment and encouraging respect for people's common humanity.

"The workplace does have an influence on the surrounding community, so if the workplace can send a strongly anti-racist ethos, that can have a very positive influence on the wider society," he says.

Crowley says the initiative will also encourage employers to see cultural diversity as something positive. This could include showing flexibility towards the cultural or religious needs of ethnic groups in much the same way as "family-friendly" work practices strike a balance between work and personal commitments.

According to Crowley, racism has been slow to emerge as a ground for claims of discrimination in the workplace under the Employment Equality Act which came into force a year ago. This, he says, reflects both the limited presence of ethnic minorities in the workplace and the difficulties people from vulnerable groups face in knowing and acting on their rights.

There are currently more than 14,500 people working in the Republic on work visa or permit schemes from countries outside the European Economic Area which includes European Union states plus Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland. These workers are concentrated in the service industry, catering, agriculture and fisheries.

Of the estimated 3,500 asylum-seekers in the Republic who are entitled to work, up to 600 of them had stopped claiming social welfare benefits by the end of last September.

Medicine is a profession which has traditionally been quite ethnically diverse and this trend will continue as severe shortages of nurses and doctors has led to recent recruitment drives in the Philippines, India and Pakistan.

About 35 per cent of Ireland's 3,000 junior doctors are from ethnic minorities, while less than one per cent of some 1,200 permanent Irish consultants are from ethnic minorities. The figures speak for themselves, says Asim Ishtiaq, a spokesman for the Irish Medical Organisation's non-EU graduates. Ishtiaq, who emigrated to Ireland from Pakistan nine years ago, says doctors from ethnic minorities have traditionally kept quiet about the institutionalised "covert" racism which is systematically thwarting their careers.

Now, he says, they have had enough. "Previously there was a culture of cover-up, intimidation and harassment in the health system, but we are trying to change things and bring awareness to people that multi-culturalism is a progressive thing for a society and it's not a step backwards," he says.

Ishtiaq says non-EU graduates don't want quotas or special treatment, but more transparency and equal opportunities. In a recent IMO survey, one in 10 doctors, and 15 per cent of junior doctors said they were concerned about racism in their profession.

There have been isolated incidents of racially motivated attacks or verbal abuse against minority ethnic doctors and their families outside the workplace in recent years. Earlier this year, a senior doctor was racially abused by a patient in Cavan General Hospital. In Dublin, a senior consultant was overheard by staff insulting an Asian trainee by remarking that "it would be easier to train a monkey".

Brendan Butler from IBEC says the anti-racist workplace initiative makes sense both legally, morally and in business terms in a labour market which will need 200,000 workers over the next five years.

"In a tight labour market companies are looking to attract people from abroad. If they don't integrate fully or if it leads to tensions in the workplace, productivity can suffer and there can be problems on the ground. So there are very strong economic and business reasons to ensure all staff are given equal opportunities to play their role," he says.

Kensika Monshengwo, training officer with the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, which advises the Government, welcomes the initiative and says discriminatory barriers preventing people from getting into the workplace in the first place also need to be examined.

"There's racism in terms of promotion, but also in terms of selection and recruitment. People often forget that recruitment agencies have a role and they should be aware of the obligations under anti-discrimination laws," he says. Monshengwo suggests ethnic monitoring of applications and promotions would be an effective way to tackle the "glass ceiling" problem. "If you can't count it, it doesn't count, so you have to be able to monitor promotions and applications in companies," he adds.

Tom Uburu in Co Cork, who waited three years to get a job commensurate with his experience, says deeply patriotic and partisan attitudes are ingrained in Irish society and it will take a long time to erase them.

He says ethnic minorities will have to be positive and "take the game" to Irish people. "That might just break the invisible wall because at the moment foreigners are being looked at as invaders and it will take a while for Irish people generally to see that yes, they are making a positive contribution."

For further information on Anti-Racist Workplace Week contact Lisa Fingleton at the Equality Authority on 01-4173333.