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The Latino community members pay their fair share of taxes and deserve to have information provided to them by public agencies about these governmental agency employment opportunities. This lack of information in the past has led to thousands of outstanding Latino candidates failing to apply for jobs because they were not aware of job openings.
  Senate Bill 44 would also ensure women will have access to information about job categories where they have traditionally been underrepresented. For example, in many fire departments and police departments, women are not employed in large numbers. Without outreach activities to notify potential women candidates know about the available openings, a fire department or police department that is 95% male will most likely remain at that level. This will occur because the 95% of the workforce that are male will spread the word about job openings to their friends, neighbors and family members. This insider or word-of-mouth recruitment will keep the workforce from changing to better reflect our diversity.
  Also, there are many departments and job classifications in the public sector in California where Afro-Americans, Asians and American Indians are not currently employed in numbers that represent their current representation in the civilian labor force. Insider or word-of-mouth recruitment helps to maintain this situation while outreach programs will change it over time. This bill would allow job information on available opportunities to be provided to those ethnic groups and women who are underrepresented in particular job categories.  Again, SB44 will promote diversity by allowing access to information to minority groups and women who have traditionally had no knowledge of these job openings

because insider or word-of-mouth recruitment was the prevailing method of recruitment for these employment opportunities.
  In conclusion, the Los Angeles County Chicano Employees Association knows from experience that a workforce will not become diversified over the years for groups that have traditionally been left out unless the public sector agency or department conduct outreach efforts.
  Corporate America has recognized diversity in the workforce as a critical component of a successful company. We must continue to allow women and minority groups who are underrepresented in the public sector access to information about job openings so that they can compete for the same employment opportunities.
  Aside from our association, SB44 has the support of many major Latino organizations such as the American G.I. Forum of the Untied States; the California Hispanic Publishers Assn.; the Latin American Law Enforcement Assn.; the Southern Region of CAFÉ de California., Inc. (Latino State Employees Assn.); the L.A. County Hispanic Managers Assn.; the L.A. Chapter of the Mexican American Correctional Assn.
  We also strongly endorse continuing outreach programs designed to increase the pool of minority students applying for institutions of higher education such as the UC and the Cal. State College system. Please send a letter in support to State Sen.Richard Polanco, State Capital, Rm 313, Sacramento, California 95814. •

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LACCEA BOARD HONORS RUDY RICO

  At its second annual Christmas dinner, the LACCEA Board of Directors honored Rudy Rico for not only serving as LACCEA president for several years but also for his tireless efforts to improve the lives of working men and women in the county. Guest speaker Irv Hershenbaum, First Vice President of the United Farm Workers, said Rudy has "been a stalwart friend of ours for many, many years. The fights you have taken on are the fights that are a model for the community." He commended Rudy because "not too many people stand up for rank and file members and for people who are just working for a living."
  Rudy, who intends to retire soon as a construction superintendent from the Department of Public Works after close to 37 years, said, "Every new year that comes, there are more issues to address" and encouraged board members to "keep up the fight."
  Rudy was the individual who, with LACCEA support, enlisted aid from CAPE and SEIU Local 660 to win the Additional Responsibilities/Out of Classification bonus available to thousands of employees currently working beyond their class specifications. To date, a signifinant number of bonuses have been approved in Public Works. After he retires, Rudy intends to devote his time to work with abused children.
  Ralph De La Fuente and Violet Herber donated a plaque that was presented to Rudy. Cynthia Swink and Kenneth McArthur of Oceanside, donated the evening’s entertainment. A generous donation was provided by Commercial Graphics. •
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