May 4, 2004

The Honorable Frank Wolf

Chair

Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee

H-309 Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

 

The Honorable Jose Serrano

Ranking Member

Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee

1016 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515Dear Chair Wolf and Ranking Member Serrano:

We urge the House Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee to reject a request by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to use any funding provided under the FY2005 Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Bill for a workforce repositioning effort, which would be used to establish a privatized national customer service center as well as close and consolidate field offices. 

Currently, reliable and experienced EEOC employees, including attorneys, mediators, and investigators, provide callers with advice and counsel.  In fact, according to the witness who represented EEOC’s district directors at the agency’s September 8, 2003, hearing, three-fourths of the district directors continue to believe that calls from the public are being quite adequately handled with current staff.

Federal employees are high performers when it comes to staffing call centers.  According to a 2002 study by Purdue University’s Center for Customer-Driven Quality, federal call centers provide better customer service than centers run by state and local agencies or private firms.  On the other hand, contracting out call centers, particularly call centers established to respond to complicated inquiries about legal rights and protections, can result in inferior service and increased costs.

According to a 2003 study by the American Immigration Lawyers of America (AILA), service deteriorated dramatically when the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services cut off access to its service centers and instead directed callers to use a privatized call center.

In August 2002, EEOC commissioned a study from the National Academy of Public Administration on the Commission's structure and program delivery system.  That study recommended closing 41 of EEOC's 51 offices.  Earlier this year, EEOC directed a "repositioning workgroup" to recommend which offices should be shut down and consolidated into no more than eleven "mega offices."