Former US labor officials urge contractors to stand firm on DEI

Richa Naidu - Reuters - 15/04
A group of former U.S. Department of Labor officials has urged federal contractors to maintain their corporate diversity policies in the face of legal threats by the Trump administration, a letter seen exclusively by Reuters showed.
  • Open letter to firms employing a fifth of U.S. workers
  • Call Trump administration's DEI attacks 'legally unsound'
  • Say fixing discrimination, collecting data still lawful
  • Trump administration has called DEI efforts 'wasteful'
April 15 (Reuters) - A group of former U.S. Department of Labor officials has urged federal contractors to maintain their corporate diversity policies in the face of legal threats by the Trump administration, a letter, opens new tab seen exclusively by Reuters showed.
In an open letter to firms that hold federal government contracts, the ten signatories - whose tenures straddled the Clinton, Obama and Biden administrations - said the administration of President Donald Trump has no authority to forbid companies from running equal opportunity programs.

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Executive orders issued by Trump since his inauguration have sought to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs across federal agencies and contractors, and pressure the broader private sector to follow suit.
Opponents of DEI argue the initiatives give some an unfair advantage, but advocates say they address inequality by promoting opportunities for women, ethnic minorities and other under-represented groups.
Collectively, contractors employ around a fifth of the U.S. workforce. They include plane maker Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab and defense company Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab, which are among those to have pulled back on DEI programs or communications in recent weeks.
Yet the former officials who worked at the U.S. Department of Labor and its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which enforces anti-discrimination laws, said the...
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