In Virginia, there are ways of addressing mistreatment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or religion, but the risks of confronting employers are high. “A bad economy is an employer's market,” explained Sa'ad El-Amin, President of the Employment Advocacy Center, based in Richmond. When an employee files a discrimination complaint, they go head-to-head with their employers and a way of life. This is a daunting task. However, “the only way you are going to change the culture is to not allow it to occur,” said El-Amin.
On March 1 of this year twelve pipe fitters reported acts of racism by peers and superiors also working in the Water Distribution division of the Department of Public Utilities. The original complaint states, “We have been hired and trained to do our assigned tasks, however, are constantly overlooked because of the color of our skin.” The pipe fitters claimed promotions were systematically denied to African Americans, and white employees were allowed to made racist comments at work.
The DPU's Human Resources Department confirmed the pipe fitters' complaints. The investigation report, released July 22, “found the allegation of disparate treatment of individuals in the protected categories involving recruitment, promotional opportunities and application of policies was founded.” For example, after reviewing an interview packet released by the DPU, the team of investigators observed there were “no interview comments and notes” for African American applicants.
“It's the worst job in the department, and it happens to be populated 100% by African Americans. That tells you something about the department,” said El-Amin, who is representing the pipe fitters in a case against the DPU through the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.
The report also found the use of the n-word to be prevalent. A Caucasian employee admitted saying “shut up nigger” to one of the African American pipe fitters. The unnamed employee later apologized, but no further action was taken. Similarly, a former employee with a “close relationship” to a superior in the Water Department said, “I'm white and you're black so do what the hell I tell you.”
According to the report, management failed to “address or discipline the employees within [the] division who made racial slurs....and as such per the Administrative Regulation is considered party to the behavior.” As recommended in the investigation report, the General Supervisor of the Water Maintenance Department, Mr. Beverly Gillespie, was forced into retirement.
The report made several other suggestions, including equal training opportunities, mandatory approval of reassignments by the Appointing Authority, reassignment of employees who were affected by discrimination, executive team training on diversity and monthly meetings between water distribution employees and HR leadership. “We have not seen any implementation,” said El-Amin.
Sa'ad El-Amin
After the report was released, El-Amin told the Richmond Times Dispatch, “The recommendations are woefully lacking. They don’t explain how this culture was allowed to persist for years.”
The racist behavior of DPU employees is in direct violation of existing Administrative Regulations of the City of Richmond that explicitly prohibits “giving preferential treatment to any person.” If this regulation was already in place, why is discrimination still a problem for Richmond City employees?
On August 29 two CrimethInc members presented their perspectives on employment and inequality at The Flying Brick, an alternative library located in Oregon Hill. In their latest book, entitled Work, the workers’ collective CrimethInc argues an employer-dominated culture encourages and utilizes discrimination. “I think a lot of the inequalities we see today have been produced by the necessity of keeping people separated and keeping people exploited,” said a CrimethInc representative who asked to remain anonymous.
According to the CrimethInc representative, ancient forms of discrimination such as racism and sexism have both shaped and been shaped by capitalism. In the section titled “Identity,” the authors of Work write, “Blackness was invented as a rationale for the subjugation of certain peoples, and whiteness as an alliance among various ethnicities on the basis of shared privilege...white indentured servants hardly benefited from this privilege the same way white land owners did, but they were systematically segregated from black slaves and granted just enough advantages over the latter to ensure that white and black exploited wouldn't rise up together.”
According to CrimethInc, all individuals could benefit from abandoning a work-for-pay system. The anonymous representative explained, “none of us have the option to live the completely free and fulfilling lives we want. So, its not something that can be solved individually, it's something that we have to address collectively.” Work calls for us to resist work culture, but what happens when pipe fitters stop fitting pipes?
El-Amin agreed work promotes inequality. However, he believes problems associated with our economy are not easily eliminated. “The difficulty is that it takes a special type of person to go it alone, because we have been acculturated from the cradle to get a good job, to work for somebody. That is the emphasis,” said El-Amin.
On August 24, eight of the twelve pipe fitters who filed the initial complaints filed a case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. El-Amin believes that this step is necessary because DPU and City officials have yet to respond to the worker's demands. Hours before submitting the necessary paperwork to the EEOC, El-Amin stated, “I'm hoping that it can be dramatic enough, both in its revelation and in its resolution, that it becomes an active deterrent against others doing it.”
The anonymous CrimethInc representative praised the pipe fitters for filing a complaint with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Every time people suffer something oppressive, when they stand up for themselves that makes it easier for others to do the same.” However, he said, “You can ask those in power to look out for you, but if you only ask you don't have control over the outcome... We can't count on the bureaucracy that those already in power set up.”
The goal of agencies such as The Emploment Advocacy Center and the EEOC is to limit injustice in the workplace. El-Amin commented, “It is not eliminated, but it is controlled.”
It is unsure when the case will be resolved.“The EEOC is notorious for being slow with their cases,” said El-Amin.
When asked to make a statement for this article, Angela Fountain, Public Relations Manager for the Department of Public Utilities, replied, “We are not going to be able to contribute any statement at this time. Hopefully, once the pending litigation is resolved, then perhaps we will be able to make a statement of some sort about the programs available to our employees as far as career advancement and improvement is involved.”
Those who choose confront their employers will have their privacy violated, and could be fired. Often, they may not see results for months or years, if ever. In the case of the pipe fitters, employees are confronting racism, a entrenched part of Richmond's culture. There is, however, a light at the end of the tunnel. El-Amin remarked, “I tell my clients if someone had done what they are doing now five years ago, the situation could have been avoided.”
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily correspond with RVA Magazine editorial policy.