Federal Suit Charges Bias in Hiring of Dockworkers

The federal government sued the longshore workers union and the largest shipping association on the West Coast on Friday in a discrimination case that could force them to pay $2.75 million in damages and hire hundreds of minorities as apprentice dockworkers in the county’s harbor.

Attorneys for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought the lawsuit against the Pacific Maritime Assn. and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which has more than 5,000 members in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Pacific Maritime negotiates and administers labor contracts involving the union for more than 100 shipping lines, terminal operators and stevedore companies in California, Oregon and Washington.

The commission alleges that the institutions used a hiring test for apprentice dockworkers that was biased against Asians, Latinos and African Americans, who purportedly failed the basic skills exam at a far higher rate than whites. Some of them flunked more than once.

Government attorneys say that the lawsuit is a prelude to the filing of a federal consent decree next week that will reopen the hiring process for as many as 2,200 minorities, give them seniority toward union membership, and pay them a share of $2.75 million in compensation.

“This case has caused an uproar on the waterfront,” said Anat Ehrlich, a supervising trial attorney for the commission. “But the only way to remedy the discrimination is put these people in a place where they would have been absent the discrimination.”

Under the pending consent decree, the exam, which tested reading comprehension, grammar, spelling and math skills, will be discontinued. Minorities who failed the test will get to reapply to the apprentice program. But they must pass the remaining battery of written, driving and physical agility tests to be eligible for financial awards and seniority.

Attorneys for the maritime association and the union either declined to discuss the case or could not be reached for comment Friday. However, both institutions admitted no wrongdoing in the proposed consent decree.

The commission’s 2-year-old investigation has angered the harbor’s apprentice dockworkers, including many minorities, who passed the test but now stand to lose their current standing toward union registration if a judge approves the consent decree. They fear that people who flunked the test eventually will be placed ahead of them in the long line to get into the union.

As the commission’s case unfolded late last year, thousands of apprentices refused to work Dec. 20, paralyzing cargo operations in the harbor for most of the day. Hundreds of them drove to downtown Los Angeles to demonstrate outside the commission’s offices.

“The racial charges are ridiculous. This is a basic violation of our seniority rules,” said Melissa Arendain, an apprentice dockworker who has at least 900 hours toward union membership. “We spend so much time and effort getting seniority. Now many of us are going to lose that.”

There are about 3,500 apprentices or so-called casual dockworkers in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. They make up a pool of part-time laborers who generally take the stevedoring jobs that go unfilled each day by union members.

Advancement into the union is based on the number of hours casuals have earned when the union has openings. Those with the most seniority and good work histories generally are registered.

The process has created a race for hours among the casuals, who often put their personal lives on hold for years so they can be available for work around the clock, including shifts on holidays and weekends.

Apprentices say the competition is fierce because union registration is highly coveted. International Longshore members typically make $60,000 to $100,000 a year. Some positions, such as crane operators and marine clerks who track cargo, earn even more.

Groups of casuals are now considering legal action to contest the consent decree, which has been signed by the union and the maritime association. They say the exam, the Test of Basic Adult Education, has been in widespread use across the country for years without any problem.

CTB/McGraw-Hill in Monterey, the testing division of McGraw-Hill, developed the exam. Michael H. Kean, a spokesman for the company, said the test has been rigorously evaluated and analyzed over the years to remove racial bias from its questions.

But Erlich said a statistical analysis by the commission shows that a disproportionate number of Asians, Latinos and African Americans flunked the test compared to whites, a solid indication, he said, that it is biased against minorities.

Ehrlich said that after the consent decree is filed, a court hearing will be held to determine if interested parties, such as the casual dock workers, should be allowed to bring legal challenges. A court date has not been set yet.