FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2021
January 22, 2021
Contact:
Brittany Holder
202-297-7244
[email protected]
Largest Federal Employee Union Applauds Biden’s Picks to Lead Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
AFGE calls on EEOC leadership to reassess recent rule change that disallows unions to represent federal employees in discrimination cases
WASHINGTON – Today, it was announced that President Joe Biden selected Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels to serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws.
“AFGE extends our sincerest congratulations to Chair Burrows and Vice Chair Samuels on this well-deserved honor,” said American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley. “We are confident they will do everything they can to protect federal workers from workplace discrimination and we hope they start with the terrible, eleventh hour rule adopted over their objections on January 7, 2021.”
Former Chair Janet Dhillon led a rushed vote to deprive federal workers of their right to union representation during discrimination cases – forcing workers to either represent themselves, hire an attorney, or not file a complaint. But Chair Burrows and Vice Chair Samuels stood their ground.
“This union-busting rule was designed to deter workers from reporting workplace discrimination – knowing most employees cannot afford to pay thousands of dollars for an attorney and do not have the ability to represent themselves in a discrimination case,” Kelly added. “Due to the rushed and partisan nature of the vote and the unprecedented volume of 11,000 public comments opposing the rule posted in the Federal Register, we call on Chair Burrows and Vice Chair Samuels to delay implementation of this ruling until a full reassessment can be complemented.”
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