By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The Aldermanic Public Employees committee approved a measure that would allow city workers who use another language in the performance of their jobs to get bonuses of up to 10 percent of their salaries.
Juanita Franco has worked for the city for 15 years. She speaks Spanish, and says having more employees who speak foreign languages would be a big help.
"I've worked in many different departments, and in every single one we've had someone who couldn't speak the language," Franco said. "And I just happened to be there, and I was able to interpret. "
The bill still needs to clear the Civil Service Commission and the full board of aldermen.
Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, and Vietnamese are the city's top three foreign languages.