OPEN LETTER FROM CHARLES E. WASHINGTON TO ELLIS MAUPIN

Charles E. Washington

GS-15, US Department of Energy May 29, 1999

COFE -- Confederation of Federal Employees

Special Assistant to the President, BIG

Member NTEU Chapter 213

Dear COFE, BIG and NTEU Friends,

This is in response to the four page letter from Ellis Maupin, dated May 22, 1999. First, you should know that Ellis and I are professional friends and have been since 1991. However, just as I have told my management, I have told Ellis I will not engage or stand idly by while malicious wrongdoing is being perpetrated. I am appalled by Ellis' letter. It's replete with false and misleading statements, and the undercurrent of "race-baiting" is sickening. I will not go into all the dirty linen, but suffice to say, Ellis did not initiate the May 5th Rally; COFE and BIG did. Ellis was invited in and we agreed to do things by majority vote. When the majority vote went against Ellis, he moved deceitfully, swiftly, and without warning to undermine the other organizers.

We did not learn until after COB on May 4th that Ellis had advised Rock Neuman that the rally was off. We did not learn until the morning of May 5th that a town hall meeting had been scheduled for the same time and in "lieu" of the rally. Ellis was informed of COFE's press release, and he was even quoted in that press release. COFE's press release went out first, and Ellis' went out second. Yes, Ellis did send out a press release. I personally delivered Ellis' press release, per his request, and I have the original. Ellis wanted NTEU perceived as the leader of the rally because he could use union funds to produce posters which he claimed cost $6,000. We never saw those posters. The orange handwritten flyers were not produced by Ellis but were produced by COFE. Ellis did edit and agree to the flyers and asked me to have them copied at Kinkos, which I did. I was paid for this reproduction with a NTEU check. Ellis stated these flyers were broadly disseminated, but we found more than 400 of the 500 flyers in a box inside the union office at COB on May 4th (the evening before the rally). Ellis never told us he was backing out of the rally.

I did receive a "bribery" call at home from Ellis at 9:30 pm on the night of May 4th, but I will only address that if Ellis continues in manipulating the facts. Personal attacks against Wanda Klimkiewicz and Dave Nolan are unwarranted. This is not a "race-based" election. At DOE we do not have a "race" war between Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asians, Persons with Disabilities, etc. Our fight is with management. The problem is management against employees, and the entity most responsible is the Office of Civil Rights, which has the temerity to schedule a town hall meeting on "racism." OCR should stop these cosmetic meetings and comply with Presidential, Congressional and EEO mandates. How many of your complaints have OCR dismissed, undermined, or discouraged? Have you been retaliated against? Lied to? Lied on? How fearful are you of filing a complaint? How many of your FOI requests have been answered?

More relevant, how many of you left voice mails for Ellis and did not get a response? How many hours have you spent preparing packets for Ellis and then found yourself standing alone. How many times have Ellis not shown for a meeting that impacted your livelihood? Did Ellis tell you that you could march as an individual under the 5th Amendment, and not under the union banner? Did he tell you that COFE and BIG were rallying even as 30 of you attended the town hall meeting, which was "reportedly" to include the Deputy Secretary, but did not? Did he tell you Wanda rallied with us? Can you honestly say that during Ellis' 14 year tenure things have improved? Did he tell you that the 200 NTEU members he represents are a very small fraction of the thousands of employees working at DOE. Most employees chose not to, or cannot join, NTEU. COFE was started just for that reason, to represent the unrepresented.

I'm not concerned with the President's color, but that the President is fair, not out of touch, divisive, threatening, or abusive. The fact sheet about the rally is true. Although Ellis and I are professional friends, his specious attack on COFE is an attack on all Federal employees. Federal employee rights preceed a professional relationship. I am not angry with Ellis, but with his tactics. It pains me to say this, but I reject Ellis' offer to serve as his campaign strategist and withdraw my $200 campaign contribution.