wfn.org | NCC supports Federal Communications Commission on EEO ruling

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

Nov. 24, 1998
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
William C. Winslow, press contact
(212) 870-2137
winsloww@ucc.org
On the Web: http://www.ucc.org

National Council of Churches supports
Federal Communications Commission on EEO ruling

     NEW YORK CITY -- The Communications Commission
of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
today called upon representatives of its member denominational
units to "strongly support ... verbally and by other means" the
determination by the Federal Communications Commission to
require broadcasting stations to continue to recruit women and
people of color whenever jobs are open, in spite of a Federal
court decision hostile to affirmative action.
     "The National Council of Churches helped to get the FCC
to adopt Equal Employment Opportunity rules for broadcasting
stations when the need for such requirements was proposed to the
Commission in 1969 by the United Church of Christ," said the
Rev. Dr. Randy Naylor, Associate General Secretary for
Communication and Interpretation for the NCC, to his
constituents.  "We have strongly supported the enforcement of the
rules, as we have seen employment of women and minorities in
responsible jobs grow substantially because of them."
     Naylor continued, "The FCC has courageously taken a
stand for justice and equality for all Americans by its unanimous
decision to continue to enforce the Equal Employment Opportunity
rule standards, when it might have bowed out of a policy that has
become controversial.  It has taken the kind of responsible, non-
partisan action we all hope to get from a governmental regulatory
agency.  We should commend its stand which is in direct line with
our own goal of achieving full participation of women and
minorities in all phases of the Church and society."
     "I am sure you will want to strongly support the FCC at
this time, verbally and by other means you may have to get this
information to your membership," Naylor concluded.
     The 1969 EEO rules of the FCC required stations to seek
out people of color and women for job openings, and to file annual
reports of its hiring practices which were evaluated at license
renewals.  This year, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Washington,
D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals struck down these requirements in
an appeal by a religious station in St. Louis which had been cited
by the FCC for violating the rules.  On Nov. 19, 1998, the FCC
reiterated its requirement that broadcasters continue to recruit
people of color and women for all job openings, although they will
not be asked to use labor force and hiring data to evaluate the
success of these recruitment efforts.
     The National Council of Churches is the nation's leading
ecumenical organization, with 35 member Protestant and
Orthodox church bodies -- including the United Church of Christ -
- embracing nearly 52 million congregants.
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