EEOC Complaint Duties Restored To Union Staff

EEOC Complaint Duties Restored To Union Staff

By ARI PAUL

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will no longer use a private contractor to field calls regarding complaints, instead restoring that task to Federal employees.

GABRIELLE MARTIN: 'A huge victory.' In what the affected local of the American Federation of Government Employees called a victory for Federal workers, the commission announced Aug. 10 that it would not renew the contract it had with Vangent Inc. to process calls from those filing complaints. The EEOC began a two-year experiment using a private call center in March 2005, but extended the program for another year.

'Bad Idea From Start'

"It was never a good idea," said Rachel Shonfield, the legislative coordinator for National Council of EEOC Locals, 216 of the AFGE. "For one thing, it's inherently governmental work to provide people assistance on their civil rights."

Prior to 2005, EEOC employees fielded calls from complaint-filers in addition to their normal duties. Previously known as Pearson Government Solutions, Vangent is an Arlington, Va.-based company specializing in information management. An EEOC spokesman said the calling center offered translation services in 150 languages.

The impetus for the EEOC's decision was mounting opposition in Congress to continuing the use of the call center this year. The May 2006 report on the EEOC Contact Center Customer Satisfaction Survey cited many instances of customer dissatisfaction with the Vangent employees' knowledge of EEOC procedure.

The EEOC's Inspector General, Aletha L. Brown, issued a report in June 2006 listing a host of problems with the privatization program, including the fact that the national call center saved the EEOC labor equivalent to only 6.71 full time workers.

Poor Communication

"Communication between the [national call center] and EEOC offices is not efficient," the Inspector General's report stated. "There is not an established process to communicate feedback and share knowledge and information. Employees at the NCC also do not share a common understanding of their role or the work of the EEOC, which limits their effectiveness in supporting the EEOC. The technologies across the EEOC and NCC are not well integrated, preventing a seamless operation and causing duplication of work at EEOC offices and the NCC. The NCC also does not provide regular trend reports to the EEOC."

The local had also lobbied Congress to take action to end the use of the call center. In a report based on the Inspector General's claims, the union suggested that the EEOC could save $2.5 million by discontinuing of the call center.

The EEOC worked to correct problems at the call center, its spokesman said, but eventually bowed to union and congressional pressure.

"It's a huge victory to be heard by our commissioner and Congress," said the local's president, Gabrielle Martin, an EEOC attorney based in Denver, Co.

Feeling Staff Cuts

The EEOC has lost 20 percent of its work force since 2001 and 50 percent of its current staff is eligible for retirement, said Ms. Martin, adding that over the years the commission has lost receptionists.

"What the union is saying is, every office needs a dedicated person to man their front desk," Ms. Martin said.

With the union's latest victory, it hoped it might spark interest in new hiring at the EEOC, as well as in upgrading the commission's computer and phone systems.

"Our backlog is way up," Ms. Shonfield said. "At the very least, there should definitely be hiring to make sure that the phones are answered."

The EEOC spokesman said that new hiring is a certainty.