NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EEOC LOCALS, NO. 216

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL/CIO

Gabrielle Martin, Nat’l President, 303 E. 17^th Ave., Suite 510, Denver, CO 80203, Telephone 303-866-1322, Facsimile 303-866-1900

 

 

 

    EEOC’s Restructuring Endangers Civil Rights - - Congress Must Step In!

 

Chair Cari Dominguez's radical agenda to close and gut field offices, open a costly clearinghouse for public calls, remove charge receipt from field offices, and eliminate EEO hearings for federal employees, undermines the mission of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

   Maintaining fully staffed community-based offices is the key to quality customer service, meaningful investigations, quick resolutions, and judicial economy.

   Discrimination Is Real - Virtual Enforcement Is Not!

 

Here's What You Can Do to Ensure Civil Rights For Your Constituents:

 

Deny Funds for a National Contact Center Pilot:   Chair Dominguez has not made a business case for this $5-8 million dollar pilot.  The agency admits that its plans “weren’t focused on how much money we save from this process.”  Moreover, customer service will suffer by routing constituent calls to scripted contract operators, rather than experienced EEOC Investigators.  Civil rights laws should not be entrusted to “telemarketers.”

 

Require the EEOC to Conduct an Impact Study for Congress on E-Filing Discrimination Charges:  Plans to close offices in favor of e-filing discrimination charges will deny access to senior citizens, poor, disabled, non-English speaking, and illiterate constituents.  Previous attempts demonstrated that self-filing wastes time, because charges later have to be corrected by EEOC investigators.

 

Demand a Stop to Current Restructuring Pending Oversight Hearings:  Chair Dominguez is moving forward with baseless restructuring plans.  Instead of streamlining decision layers, her first step is adding bureaucracy by assigning district offices to report to other district offices.  Her next step is reducing field offices.  Reducing offices makes it harder for constituents to file complaints and meet personally with knowledgeable staff.  

 

Call for Congressional Oversight of EEOC’s Plan to Gut the Federal Sector EEO Process: Chair Dominguez’s draft proposal to reform the Federal Sector EEO process defies stakeholder recommendations by eliminating federal employees’ access to investigations and hearings.  Their only recourse will be the Federal Court system, which is already overburdened.   Presently, the EEOC is keeping Congress in the dark about its plans.

 

Appropriate Funding for Permanent Employees: A three-year hiring freeze has resulted in a severe shortfall in front-line positions.   Hiring permanent career employees is crucial.  Instead, EEOC plans to entrust Federal Investigator duties to low paid, four-year “term” employees, without collective bargaining rights.  This is not only bad for morale, but will result in lower caliber applicants, greater turnover, and poor customer service. 

 

Support TRAC Legislation: Contracting out I.T. workers, support staff, and other dedicated EEOC career employees will drain expertise and professionalism and place sensitive business, personnel, and medical records in the hands of private contractors.  Supporting TRAC legislation (HR 3426) and providing competition appeal rights to employees and unions will provide balance and accountability.

 

 

 

 National Council 216’s eight Locals represent bargaining unit employees in 51 field offices and HQ.  Home offices: Local 2667 HQ*Local 3230 Denver*Local 3504 Chicago*Local 3555 NY*Local 3599 Memphis*Local 3614 Baltimore*Local 3629 St. Louis*Local 3637 Dallas