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AFGE Family,

More than 4,000 AFGE members, leaders and activists have already taken action. Will Congress step up to the plate?

When we shared that the Chair of the EEOC has put out a proposed regulation designed to simultaneously undermine the union and take away the best possible representation federal employees have in pursuing an EEO claim —thousands of people already submitted comments through this link and more are continuing to submit comments.

The proposed regulation would prohibit the use of official time/paid duty time by a union representative in the context of an EEO claim.

Now it's time for Congress to show their support by signing on to Rep. Jamie Raskin's Dear Colleague letter opposing this proposed rule.

Call your representative now at 833-394-8419.

Here is a draft script to help you as you make your calls:

My name is [INSERT YOUR NAME] and I am a union member and an employee at [INSERT YOUR AGENCY]. I wanted to flag an important Dear Colleague letter led by Representative Jamie Raskin that we would love your boss’ support on. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has proposed a rule to prohibit federal employees who are union representatives from utilizing “official time” or paid duty time to represent their co-workers in an EEO matter.   We would love for your boss to sign on to Representative Raskin's Dear Colleague letter opposing this proposed rule. The deadline to sign on is Thursday, February 6, COB. For questions or more information please reach out to AFGE Legislative Representative Fiona Kohrman at [email protected] or Martha Sanchez in Representative Raskin's office at [email protected]. Thank you for your continued support of federal and D.C. government employees and their workplace rights.

Time is running out! Be sure to make your calls by 5:00 p.m. ET Thursday, February 6.

Federal employees can’t afford EEO lawyers – they have always understood that their union representatives are the most experienced, best trained, most trusted representatives in EEO matters. And under this new rule, union representatives will be excluded from official time to handle EEO matters, while every other federal employee can have it.

This is union-busting — a blatant attempt to delegitimize our union and take away our ability to represent our members.

Let's continue to keep the pressure on the EEOC and fight against this proposed rule change.

In Solidarity,

Everett Kelley
AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer

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