26 June 2015 - Taking a step to provide the Filipino community with more tools for empowerment, Philippine Consul General to Chicago Generoso D.G. Calonge signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Philippine Consulate General and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chicago District Office on June 17.

EEOC Chicago Regional Director Julianne Bowman signed the MOU also on behalf of six other EEOC District Offices in Indianapolis, IN; St. Louis, MO; Houston, TX; Birmingham, AL; Memphis, TN; and Philadelphia, PA, given the extent of the Consulate’s jurisdiction covering 16 states.

The MOU establishes a working arrangement between the Consulate and EEOC at the regional level to provide Philippine citizens information, guidance and access to training resources to help them exercise their workplace rights, guaranteed under federal laws against employment discrimination and laws promoting equal employment opportunity.

A national agreement between the Philippine Embassy and EEOC in Washington, D.C. was signed in February this year.

The first undertaking between the Consulate and the EEOC was a forum was held at the Consulate on June 18 on how the EEOC protects civil rights of immigrants and makes its services available to anyone who has experienced and suffered various types of discrimination (based on age, disability, genetic information, national origin, pregnancy, race or color, religion and sex) in their workplace or job applications.

A joint educational campaign will be launched crisscrossing the Consulate’s vast area of jurisdiction with at least 10 community outreach activities scheduled for the year.

The Consulate has entered into similar alliance agreements with the U.S. Department of Labor – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). END