Thread: Ethnic hustlers badger OPM, demand more Latinos be hired

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01432.html


Group Says OPM Must Do More to Recruit, Retain Hispanics

By Stephen Barr
Wednesday, August 2, 2006; Page D04

A coalition of 40 Hispanic organizations yesterday faulted the Office of Personnel Management for failing to improve Hispanic hiring across government and called for congressional hearings on the issue.

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda gave the OPM an "F," saying that federal hiring of Hispanics has declined in recent years and that the percentage of Hispanics in the career Senior Executive Service appears to be on a downward trend.

Hispanics make up 7.4 percent of the federal workforce but are 13.5 percent of the nation's labor force, the coalition said. Hispanics are the only underrepresented minority group in the civil service, according to OPM data.

"These intolerable levels of underrepresentation are nothing short of systemic, institutional discrimination and must be addressed now," Gilbert Sandate , a recently retired federal executive, said at a news conference at which the coalition released a 30-page report on Hispanic employment trends.

A spokesman for the OPM said the agency had not seen the report and could not comment.

OPM reports portray the government as a leader in employing minorities. As of September, the government employed 125,419 Hispanics in full-time civil service jobs.

Leaders of Hispanic groups said a diverse federal workforce promotes public health and safety and enhances the delivery of programs and services. They also pointed to a long tradition of military service among Hispanics as a sign of their interest in public service.

"We are willing and able to serve if given the opportunity," said Janet Murguia , president of the National Council of La Raza.

Sandate said, "If we are good enough to defend and die for our country, we ought to be good enough to serve it as government employees."

(About 10 percent of the troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are Hispanic, and they are 11 percent of all casualties, according to the Pentagon.)

Although hiring for most federal jobs is controlled by agencies and not the OPM, the coalition singled out the OPM for criticism because a 2000 presidential order requires the OPM to oversee minority recruitment and to recommend "actions that are appropriate to eliminate the underrepresentation of Hispanics in the federal workforce."

Gabriela Lemus , director of policy and legislation of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said that her organization has attended a series of OPM meetings to discuss Hispanic employment and that "the outreach is there, but at the end of the day, nothing happens."

Group Says OPM Must Do More to Recruit, Retain Hispanics

Manuel Mirabal , president of the National Puerto Rican Coalition, outlined the report being sent to Congress by the 40 organizations. The report, he said, found that:

· The annual percentage of Hispanic new hires in the federal workforce has decreased in recent years, from 9.5 percent in fiscal 2002 to 8.3 percent in fiscal 2005.

· The percentage of Hispanics at the top of government appears to be declining. Hispanics were 2.5 percent of the career Senior Executive Service in 2001 and 2.3 percent in 2005. If the trend continues, fewer than 140 Hispanics will be in career SES jobs within a few years.

· The retention rates are not improving. More than 20,400 Hispanics have left the government since 2000, eroding gains in Hispanic hiring.

Mirabal said more studies are needed to understand why Hispanics leave the government and why more are not considered for promotion into the top ranks.

But Sandate, who heads the Coalition for Fairness for Hispanics in Government, said he has seen discrimination in hiring and promotions and federal managers who view diversity and equal employment opportunity programs "as a nuisance, something to be tolerated and marginally complied with."

In addition to congressional hearings, the report called for putting teeth into the presidential directive by requiring agencies to prepare annual reports on Hispanic hiring and recommended increased oversight of intern programs used to recruit young people and minorities.

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda gave the OPM an "F," saying that federal hiring of Hispanics has declined in recent years and that the percentage of Hispanics in the career Senior Executive Service appears to be on a downward trend.

Excuse me, have these guys even noticed how many hispanics are in the Bush administration? You can't turn around without bumping into one.

Why don't more Hispanics apply? Statistically, a good number of Hispanics are either illegal aliens or related to one. Many government jobs require background checks and security clearances that many probably wouldn't pass.

Sandate said, "If we are good enough to defend and die for our country, we ought to be good enough to serve it as government employees."

Well how about becomming citizens first. Then you can apply for all the government jobs you want.

The other issue is...........don't these jobs require an education of some sort? A clean criminal record? I know around here when they report about some thefts and such in government offices.......you find they are hispanic, got on as a special favor and then proceed to do criminal activity. Also helps I'm sure to speak English. I'm all for equal oppertunity for everything but sometimes people plain and simple aren't qualified for the job! They shouldn't have inferior credentials and be allowed in just because they are hispanic. Or anything else. Female, asian, etc. I don't think they have much to complain about because it seems there are more hispanics in office than black or anyone else. I mean don't you have to EARN the right anymore? How many darn years passed before women and blacks ever even got the chance? Now a huge percentage are illegal and they demand things without ever having to do anything to prove themselves. How many black or white or women of other ethnic backgrounds are represented in the Latino community and their businesses? So many are already given a free pass simply because of speaking Spanish even if they aren't really qualified to do the job.

Seems to me they need to clean up their cultural problems and see if they can get these people through high school before they start demanding a presence in government offices. It's not like they aren't employed at all in state and government jobs.

How about we hire the best qualified applicant for the job, regardless of his race, sex, etc. Novel idea, huh? Of course it goes without saying, the applicant must be a legal immigrant or American citizen!

How about we hire the best qualified applicant for the job, regardless of his race, sex, etc. Novel idea, huh? Of course it goes without saying, the applicant must be a legal immigrant or American citizen!

Real novel idea! Brilliant! You know these days that's the definate way to have it not be done. That might actually be real equality and we can't have that! What would our special interest people do?

Originally Posted by MW

How about we hire the best qualified applicant for the job, regardless of his race, sex, etc. Novel idea, huh? Of course it goes without saying, the applicant must be a legal immigrant or American citizen!

The more that hold government employment the more "assistance" and preference is given in services that are given . Government employees control who gets services and policies.
Look at the welfare offices in Arizona, they have a high percentage of Hispanic employees, the announcements are in Spanish, the signs are in Spanish and the majority of people waiting to be helped are Hispanic. Guess who gets the most "help".

I agree that this appears to be racial profiling and Americans of all heritage need to get smart about it or they are going to have to learn Spanish.
There is already program sponsored by CHCI on the hill for interns.
See at:

http://www.chci.org/

List of 2005 interns and the offices they worked in:
http://www.chci.org/chciyouth/internshi ... nterns.htm

So when hispanics get arrested for obvious criminal activity, these yahoos scream racial profiling, so can't they same be said when employers have a work force that's mostly hispanic?