About the EEOC Campaign (cont'd)

Each case that reaches the EEOC’s doorstep likely represents thousands of Americans who may have been harmed by workplace discrimination. However, due to unnecessary budget cuts, the EEOC doesn’t have the money to hire the staff it needs to investigate, litigate or conduct hearings for claims of workplace discrimination. The agency’s own budget projections show that its backlog of cases is expected to rise to nearly 48,000 in fiscal year 2007. Without the staff to handle the backlog, cases are passed from office to office, thereby effectively ending any chance that the cases will be appropriately investigated and increasing the likelihood that they will never be resolved. Additionally, with few exceptions, a hiring freeze has been in effect at EEOC since 2001. Despite all of this, the administration still wants to cut the EEOC’s budget for next year by $4 million.

The EEOC’s most recent problems can be traced back to the approval and implementation of a new reorganization plan. Instead of beefing up staff and getting serious about enforcing anti-discrimination laws, the EEOC is implementing a plan that will only weaken service in the end. Under the reorganization plan, essential field offices have been downgraded and experienced staff that leave the agency have been replaced by short-term, less experienced employees, if replaced at all. The new plan does nothing to address the staffing troubles at EEOC nor does it address the agency’s tremendous backlog.

To confront this crisis, AFGE has launched a nationwide campaign to increase awareness about the EEOC crisis and to pressure legislators into increasing funding for the EEOC. The campaign utilizes newspaper and radio advertising as well as events featuring concerned citizens, AFGE officials and members, and representatives from various civil rights organizations. However, AFGE can’t solve this problem alone. With your support, we at AFGE hope to show the media and lawmakers on the Hill that workplace discrimination of any kind has no place in society and that without a strong EEOC millions of jobs are in danger.

To find out what you can do to support this campaign, please visit the “What Can I Do?” section of this Web site. Additionally, feel free to browse this site to get the latest campaign updates and to find out more about the EEOC and AFGE.

Sincerely,
Your Friends at AFGE