Groups Say Government Failing to Hire Hispanics

WASHINGTON May 11, 2004 (AP) - Hispanics make up a smaller percentage of the federal work force and its senior ranks compared to other minority groups in part because of a "lack of will and emphasis" from the Bush administration, a coalition of Hispanic groups said Monday.

Policies adopted to increase the number of Hispanic federal employees have no provisions to force agencies to increase the hiring, promotion and retention of Hispanics, said Manuel Mirabal, chairman of the Hispanic Leadership Agenda.

"There's a lack of will and emphasis from the very top of the administration to get something done about this," said Mirabal, whose group is comprised of 40 Hispanic organizations.

Hispanics make up 7 percent of the federal work force and 3.3 percent of its senior executives, the organization said. Hispanics make up 13.1 percent of the work force in the private sector and 13.5 percent of the U.S. population.

The gap exists despite 36 years of federal programs aimed at improving the numbers of Hispanic federal workers.

He said the agencies have been getting "A" grades from the Bush administration on their minority hiring despite the low numbers of Hispanics.

By comparison, African Americans make up 18 percent of the federal work force, according to the federal government, compared to 13 percent in the civilian labor force. Hispanics overtook African Americans last summer as the largest minority group in the country at 38.8 million.

The White House referred calls for comment to the Office of Personnel Management.

Scott Hatch, the office's spokesman, said the agency recognizes the problem, but he said 10 percent of the new hires in the federal government identify themselves as Hispanic.

"That means it's boding well for an increase in the future," he said. "We should be able to see something fairly quickly."

The organization and the Coalition for Fairness for Hispanics in Government, called on Congress and the White House to remedy the low representation and has asked Congress to hold hearings.

The groups organized their protest after the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government's human resources agency, reported in March that with minorities making up 31.3 percent of its work force, it was doing a better job hiring minorities than the private sector.

The agency reported Hispanic employment rose from 6.6 percent in 2002 to 7 percent in 2004.

Lorena Romero Cedeno, an Environmental Protection Agency employee, said she tried for nearly two years to get a job with the federal government. She is a graduate of the University of New Mexico, working on two master's degrees.

"There are many qualified folks that want to come in, it shouldn't be so difficult to come in," she said. "The competition definitely is tough because you are competing at a national level, but many of us are qualified for the national level."

Gilbert Sandate, vice president of the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives, said that part of the problem is the federal government has yet to recognize Hispanics as minorities.

"That's not going to change until we get into the mind-set of the hiring officials that when we say minority, we mean not just African American, we mean all people of color," said Sandate, who is a senior executive at the Library of Congress. He said he is not suggesting the federal government hire Hispanics instead of African Americans. The Hispanic groups were joined in the call for hiring of more Hispanics by Blacks in Government, the largest organization of black federal employees.