Government Shutdown Threatens Enforcement of Workplace Discrimination Laws
The AFGE local union that represents 2,100 federal workers at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)—the federal agency that enforces the Civil Rights Act and the other laws barring workplace discrimination—has urged Congress to avoid a government shutdown.
House Republicans last week passed a Continuing Appropriations Resolution (H.J. Res. 59) that continues unacceptable and unrealistic ransom demands that observers say were designed to provoke a government shutdown.
Gabrielle Martin, president of the AFGE National Council of EEOC Locals No. 216, says:
EEOC’s employees want to work. Our mission of eradicating discrimination in the workplace keeps Americans on the job. We are hopeful that the leaders of this country can prevent a shutdown so that our agency can continue to contribute to protecting jobs and supporting an economic recovery for workers and employers.
The 1995–1996 government shutdown closed EEOC for 23 days. Investigations piled up and became stale and drove up EEOC’s case backlog to a stunning 97,520. Depositions were delayed and settlements unraveled. Even terminally ill workers with cases pending in investigation and litigation saw their cases put on hold. Jobs were lost when EEOC workers were prevented from working.
Read more from AFGE here and more on the Republican-manufactured budget crisis here .
