By Michael Friese

Below is a translation of an article from Waz newspaper, Germany, 4th August 1999 German Kitchen - a different point of view.

For four and a half years Mohammed Tanko has been working as a kitchen assistant at the 'Pfefferkorn' restaurant. Now he has lost his job, "because I spoke to my fellow Ghanaians in my native language" he says.

Pfefferkorn GmbH & Co. KG employs about 150 people. Most of them are foreigners, so that it could soon become Babylonian in the kitchen. That's why rules have to be implemented. However, the Directors of the Pfefferkron went one step further: They threatened to pass admonitions onto the employees if they do not "generally" speak German with each other.

"We just talked about unimportant things" the 26 year old Mohammed Tanko says in a very broken German. He was immediately asked to go to the Human Resources Department. "They dismissed me without notice. I was asked to go home". They are said to have submitted a paper for signature to him in order to get money from the Unemployment Benefits office immediately.

Hard to Believe.

Tanko signed. The Pfefferkorn manager, Andreas Pansau now refers to this document, "We ended the contract with mutual agreement. We have a closure contract at our disposal. That's why Mr Tanko will have difficulties taking any legal action." The fact that the management insists on speaking German was a question of politeness. "Within our company we are multicultural and we kindly ask everybody to speak German. Everyone understands that".

Tanko's lawyers do not. "The defendants don't try to hide this obviously racist attitude. They even hung a poster by means of which the employees are asked in a colonial manner to speak German", they formulate in their statement of claim to the industrial tribunal. The conversation in their native language does of course not represent a reason for dismissal.

Tanko, married, a former football player in the first league in Ghana, in possession of a German work permit, does not expect "to be treated like a slave". "Something has to be done", he says.