An online job ad for Schärer Transport AG, a logistics company based in the canton of St Gallen, has been called out for discrimination by Switzerland's Federal Commission Against Racism (CFR).
“By emphasizing the desire to hire a 'Helvetian' and eating pork slices and sausages, we can assume that certain specific groups of the population are excluded,” Alma Wiecken, head of CFR, told Swiss daily 20 Minutes in response to furore at the online job listing.
The advert's language also caused uproar among Swiss with a migrant background. The advert emphasizes that the company seeks an 'Eidgenossen', a term used to refer to somebody of Swiss origin, which can also have far-right connotations too.
“From the onset it becomes clear that the management of Schärer Transport AG does not want to hire people with a migration background,” wrote Bujar Zenuni, president of the Switzerland's Social Democratic Party's faction of people with migrant backgrounds.
READ ALSO: Swiss court rules 'foreign gypsy' cartoon was racist
The ad states that “workers happily eat a pork steak and sausages together after work,” which Zenuni argues discriminates against several demographic groups who abstain from eating pork.
“This is probably the first job ad that explicitly mentions what to eat after work. It sends the clear signal to Jewish, Muslim or vegetarian people, whether or not they are 'Eidgnessen' (ED: Confederates), that they are expected to eat the same,” said Zenuni in his online post titled 'Please, no foreigner!'.
Member comments