On the heels of the largest whistleblower rights victory for federal workers in decades, the momentum for advancing an agenda of government accountability and transparency has never been stronger. And while many federal employees now have strong whistleblower protections thanks to this week's passing of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), GAP is teaming up with TakePart – a digital division of Participant Media – to demand essential whistleblower protections be given to millions of federal contractors, who largely lack any protections.
Visit TakePart.com/Whistleblower to sign the petition demanding whistleblower rights for federal contractors!
As you know, GAP is in the middle of the 2012-13 American Whistleblower Tour: Essential Voices for Accountability, our collegiate program designed to raise awareness of whistleblower issues among university students and the public. TakePart/Participant Media – which teamed up with GAP on our 2010 groundbreaking presentation on the essential role of whistleblowers Anyone Can Whistle – has graciously offered to collaborate with GAP on different stops of this year's Tour.
You can watch the video featuring GAP's Tom Devine below:
To coincide with today's Tour stop at Whitman College in Washington state covering accountability at the Hanford Nuclear Site, TakePart has created videos and is hosting a petition aimed at asking federal legislators to grant whistleblower protections to federal contractors through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Senators Claire McCaskill (D-Mo) and Carl Levin (D-Mi) are seeking to include best-practice whistleblower rights in the Act, and they need our help!
This is a real opportunity. Before Congress adjourns, it is going to vote on this amendment. The federal government employs more than two million workers, but about six times as many contractors. These workers are rarely protected when they speak out about wrongdoing. This amendment is paramount to rooting out corruption, as it would empower contractors to challenge waste and abuse as well as public health and safety threats.
Visit TakePart.com/Whistleblower to sign the petition demanding whistleblower rights for federal contractors!
As GAP Legal Director Tom Devine sums up in the video: "Whistleblowers are the pioneers of change. In a free society, nothing is more powerful than the truth." Congress heard your demands to protect federal employees when it unanimously passed the WPEA earlier this month. Make your voice heard once more in the 112th Congress, and take action on this imminent vote!
There are two shorter videos, which you can watch here and here.
Dylan Is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.
