The second episode of AFGE’s new series, The Activist, highlighting our union members who have stepped up to help make a difference in the lives of their colleagues and our government.
Rachel Shonfield is president of the AFGE EEOC Council 216 representing EEOC employees nationwide. She works at the EEOC office in Miami and has been an AFGE member for over 25 years.
Rachel joined AFGE because she saw what good work the steward was doing in the office to stand up when management wasn’t listening to the employees and to ensure that everybody was being treated fairly.
“Being an AFGE member has changed my life because I’ve gotten connected to people around the country who have become my family,” she explained. “And when I get to go to conferences, it energizes me that so many people from so many agencies are working to make the federal government a better workplace.”
Founded in 1965, the EEOC is the primary agency that enforces laws that prevent discrimination in the workplace. Without the EEOC workforce doing their work, people could lose their jobs or won’t even get hired in the first place due to discrimination.
Listen to Rachel talk about how her job helps the American people and her local community.
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit kept the largest collective bargaining agreement covering Department of Veterans Affairs employees in place.
The Trump administration’s plans to replace many of the career federal employees who ensure the safety of the flying public with private contractors ignores the lessons learned from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and would result in weaker airport security.
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in April undermining a key tenant of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, AFGE National President Everett Kelley recently joined more than 5,600 concerned citizens in Alabama to protest the decision and its impact on marginalized communities nationwide.