No Fear Coalition Stages Successful Silent Demonstration at Lieberman Enron Hearing

Jan 24 2002. Members of NFC respectfully gained the attention of Senator Lieberman, Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, at the Enron debacle hearing.  The No Fear Bill is currently under the jurisdiction of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.  NFC representatives made their presence known and distributed press releases and other information to more than 80 news services.  If Senator Lieberman is REALLY concerned about the welfare of workers, he will stop IGNORING the No Fear bill.  Despite numerous letters and emails, Senator Lieberman has refused to respond to our letters or meet with members of the No Fear Coalition.

NFC is stepping up its campaign to get Senator Lieberman to acknowledge, support and pass the first civil rights legislation of the 21st Century (No Fear Bill).  Senator Lieberman is playing fast and loose with the lives of federal workers by refusing to work for the immediate passage of the No Fear Bill.

 NFC is aggressively planning an ivy league town hall meeting to address the No Fear Bill.  The March event will include an all-day panel discussion. Professors, students and the community will be involved in the event.  Dr. Lani Guinier and Dr. Cornell West will be asked to address the participants.  Students at Harvard and MIT are organizing the forum.  Special thanks to Macani and Muyiwa.  If you are interested in attending this forum, please let us know.

URGENT  ACTION NEEDED                                     
      
Dear Friends and Collegues

This note is an urgent request for your to call or fax Senator Tom Daschle's office with your request for his leadership and support of S. 201 - the No Fear Act.  We mobilized, a successful telephone and fax campaign to Senator Joseph Lieberman but we also need to place pressure on the Democratic leadership to act justly.

Senator Daschle is the Senate Democratic ( Majority ) Leader.

All of the information needed to contact Daschle's office is listed below.

Please find below  "talking points" for  telephone calls as well as a fax number and an e-mail address. 

                                              URGENT    URGENT          

SENATOR DASCHLE'S  Direct TELEPHONE NUMBER: (202) 224-2321

A staff member  will ask for your name and telephone number, in order to record your support for the Bill.

Senator Daschle is not receiving faxes in his Washington, D.C. office.  Please fax him at (605)  334- 2591.

Senator Daschle's e-mail address is:

 Tom_Daschle@Daschle.Senate.gov

                               TALKING POINTS/ OR / Faxing

Senator Tom Daschle
US Senate
Washington, D.C. 
                                           Subj:  S.201 - No FEAR Bill
Dear Senator Daschle:

-    I write as a federal government employee (or private citizen)  to ask for your strong endorsement and support of  S.201, the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2001 (No FEAR).

-   As you are aware, the US House of Representatives passed the companion bill H.R. 169, unanimously 420 to 0.

-  The No FEAR Act will be the first civil rights bill of the 21st century.

-   The essence of S. 201- the No FEAR Act - is to hold federal agencies accountable for discriminatory practices and behavior. Presently, federal agencies are not faced with any consequences for engaging in discriminatory, whistleblower, or retaliatory actions. This failure to hold federal agencies accountable results in a "hostile work environment"  for hundreds of federal government employees.

-   Your leadership is needed to protect the fundamental civil rights
guaranteed under the United States Constitution, but currently only enjoyed by some. Please support this important legislation and help stop the waste, fraud, and mismanagement associated with discrimination, whistleblower, and retaliation abuses.

-   I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

NAACP Summit Addresses Federal Workplace Discrimination

The January 19 NAACP National Summit on Federal Workplace Discrimination, held in Georgetown University Hospital's Conference Center, addressed the fact that workplace discrimination is common in federal agencies.  Leroy Warren, chairman of the NAACP Federal Sector Task Force's National Summit, organized the conference to show that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) system isn’t working and to air complaints by federal government workers.  Interestingly, prior to the summit, EEOC negotiated a $7.7 million settlement between the Social Security Administration and black male employees who had complained of being kept in low-wage jobs and denied promotions.  Many such settlements and court judgments are occurring in numerous federal agencies.

Summit attendees described how workers face a hostile process when they file complaints. Investigations can last several years and managers and some agency-loyal co-workers harass those who file complaints. In some other cases, the situation that caused the complaint continues, leading workers to quit or seek medical treatment for stress. Complainants granted administrative leave for stress, can lose pay and medical insurance. Attendees described how white employees are granted supervisor positions even though they don't have the expertise of blacks with more seniority.  Attendees described how biased managers, in some cases, block EEO complaints in-house before they reach the EEOC.  They described how the stress resulting from discrimination and questionable job actions such as firings and leaves without pay are ruining people's lives.  People are losing their homes, declaring bankruptcy, having health problems, and taking their children out of college.