EEOC CHAIR REAFFIRMS PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICANS IN SPEECH TO COUNCIL FOR TRIBAL EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS

WASHINGTON - Cari M. Dominguez, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), traveled to Baraboo, Wisconsin, yesterday to address the agency's longstanding relationship with the Native American community and emphasize the Commission's continued commitment to advance job opportunities and support the elimination of workplace discrimination on or near Indian reservations.  Chair Dominguez participated in the 25th Anniversary Conference of the Council for Tribal Employment Rights (CTER), where EEOC and other federal agencies received awards for their outstanding support of the Council since it was founded in 1977.

"I am proud to reaffirm our important partnership and renew EEOC's strong commitment to protecting the employment rights of Native Americans," Ms. Dominguez told the gathering of tribal members, who represent the employment interests of Indian tribes.  "The Commission and the Council for Tribal Employment Rights share the same mission of providing Native Americans with the training and support needed to compete for jobs."

John Navarro, president of CTER, said: "The EEOC has provided valuable guidance and support to help thousands of Indian people with employment opportunities.  We look forward to continuing our mutually rewarding relationship with the Commission in the years ahead."

EEOC's partnership with the Native American community - including joint outreach, education, and technical assistance - spans a quarter century.  The Commission contracts with more than 60 Tribal Employment Rights Offices (TEROs) to secure Indian preference agreements with employers operating on or near reservations and to process employment complaints.

"Through our joint training and education activities with TEROs, as well as community outreach initiatives, EEOC's collaborative efforts with the Native American community have benefitted employers and employees on and near Indian reservations," Ms. Dominguez said.  She highlighted the following key accomplishments by TEROs in Fiscal Year 2001:

• Conducting over 8,000 activities to proactively prevent employment discrimination,           such as meetings, workshops, and seminars with employers to educate them on           employment requirements of tribal ordinances and federal laws.
   
• Holding community awareness programs, training and skills development activities,           which resulted in over 13,000 job referrals of Native Americans to employers on or           near an Indian reservation.
• Settling employment discrimination charges against employers on or near Indian           reservations that benefitted nearly 15,000 Native Americans.

As part of her efforts to strengthen the EEOC-TERO partnership, Chair Dominguez recently visited EEOC field offices in Denver, Milwaukee, and Phoenix "to learn more about the work TEROs do and the unique challenges tribes face," she said.  Later this year, Ms. Dominguez hopes to visit the agency's Seattle office to reach out to Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.

EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin; the Equal Pay Act of 1967; prohibitions against discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal sector; sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  Further information about the Commission is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.