EPA and Its Biggest Union Put Employee Diversity Talks on Pause

The EPA and its biggest union have temporarily set aside one of the union’s top priorities: a demand to boost the hiring of diverse candidates by broadening its applicant pools and recruiting more heavily at institutions like historically Black colleges and universities.

Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238 have agreed to the pause because many issues up for discussion first require the EPA to establish a new diversity office, according to Nancy Grantham, principal deputy associate administrator at the agency’s public affairs office. She said the two sides have discussed steps being ...