Census Workers Told To "Work Slow," Shortage of Packets (Update 3)

April 30, 2010 - CHICAGO - Chicago News Bench has learned from an inside source that at least some of the U.S. Census Bureau's Chicago offices do not have enough packets for their Census takers, and some Census takers have been ordered by supervisors to "work slow" and to not contact "more than one" household per hour. UPDATE, May 25, 2010 - Although the packets were finally distributed on or around May 5, some Chicago Census takers ("enumerators") are still under orders from supervisors to "work slow." This is your tax dollars at work. The Bureau of the Census now KNOWS this: At 9:55 a.m. (CDT) today, someone at the Bureau Of The Census (IP 148.129.71.54) in Gastonia, North Carolina read our related post. UPDATE, May 2, 2010 - Some U.S. Census takers in Chicago are being denied work because the field packets and paperwork they need have not been properly distributed by the Chicago Regional Census Center, located in the Citigroup Center at 500 West Madison. Census takers in Chicago start at $18.25 per hour. They are paid for up to four days of training, but are then paid only for the hours that they are out knocking on doors of addresses known to have not responded yet to the Census. Some of the small field centers in various neighborhoods have still not received enough packets for all of the Census takers recently hired and trained, which means that some of them will not be able to knock and doors and, therefore, not paid. On May 1, U.S. Census takers hit the streets to knock on doors in a widely publicized push to get more information about American households in the Bureau's "2010 Census Complete Count Door-to-Door Follow-Up Operations." In Chicago, they will be paid $18.25 or more per hour or more to "work slow." There are three ways that you can a U.S. Census Bureau worker:1) They will have a shoulder bag with the “U.S. Census Worker” logo; 2) They will have a Census Bureau ID badge; 3) They will be walking very slowly or napping in a coffee shop. For your safety: Census Takers will never ask to come inside a person’s home. If you are suspicious of any Census taker, you should call their Regional Census Center. Find a list of those centers here. Also see: Identifying a 2010 Census Taker (Enumerator) and How to Identify a Census Field Representative RELATED:Map of U.S. Census Taker Pay Rates Chicago Lags Behind National Census Participation Goal‎ Chicago Public Radio Officials: Beware of possible census scams‎ ABC7Chicago.com Chicago Regional Census Center (2010 Census)Citigroup Center 500 West Madison, Room 1600 Chicago, IL 60661 (312) 454-2700 or 1-866-861-2010 FAX: (312) 454-2789 Chicago Regional Office1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite 400 Oak Brook, IL 60523-1918 (630) 288-9200 or 1-800-865-6384 FAX: (630) 288-9288 TDD: (708) 562-1791 E-mail: Chicago.Regional.Office@census.gov