As many as 2,200 minorities who failed to secure jobs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach could receive up to $30,000 apiece, under a consent decree filed Tuesday in federal court.
Defendants in a federal job discrimination lawsuit agreed to set aside $2.75 million plus interest for applicants who failed to become “casual” longshore workers because they failed a seventh-grade proficiency exam.
Two weeks ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit claiming the exam is discriminatory because minorities failed it at a substantially greater rate than whites and because it is not needed to perform the work.
The lawsuit, filed against the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, will be settled if U. S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian approves the consent decree.
“We think it’s a fair and just resolution of the lawsuit,” said Anat Ehrlich, supervisory trial attorney for the commission, “because it provides relief for an affected class blacks, Hispanics and Asians who were excluded from the casual selection process because of the test.”
Because attorneys for each side do not know how many former longshore applicants will seek restitution, they do not know how much each will be paid. If every former applicant sought compensation immediately, they would receive far less than the maximum of $30,000 mentioned in the consent decree.
Those who seek compensation must still be interested in becoming longshore workers and pass tests measuring strength, agility, and drug and alcohol use.
If Tevrizian approves the consent decree, the two ports will be forced to reopen their testing process within 60 days for those who failed the exam, which was used for less than a year between 1997 and 1998.
The proposed consent decree seeks to permanently bar the defendants from using the exam, known as the Test of Adult Basic Education. It would also force the defendants to create three Equal Employment Officers to provide oversight of the decree.
Though the union and the Pacific Maritime Association will pay for the $2.75 million fund, neither admitted wrongdoing in the consent decree. ILWU attorney Marc Coleman said the union has strict anti-discrimination policies and an ethnically diverse membership 39 percent Hispanic and 14 percent African-American out of roughly 5,000 employees.
“The union, Local 13 and the International, has a history of taking stands against discrimination in all forms,” said Coleman. “Its membership is reflective of the community, and that’s historically been the case.”
The Pacific Maritime Association, which negotiates longshore union contracts on behalf of 90 West Coast shippers, had no comment.
The proposed consent decree has infuriated “casual” workers, longshore workers trying to log enough hours to enter the union, because it would credit minorities who failed the proficiency exam with hours of work that can be used to gain entry into the union.
Many casuals show up at the port twice a day, waiting as long as five hours, in an effort to secure enough hours for seniority, said Mike Puliselich, secretary treasurer for the ILWU Local 13.
Those casuals could fall behind minorities who have not racked up any time at all over the past two years, he said.
“(Casuals) are unhappy with it; very unhappy,” Puliselich said. “Because they go down there day and night. Say you go down there at 6:30 in the morning you wait until 10. . . then you come back at 4:30 and stay until 6. What if there’s nothing?”
“Look how many hours that is out of your life,” he added.
When asked whether the consent decree would unfairly affect casual workers, Ehrlich had no comment.
The commission began its investigation in July 1998 after receiving a complaint from an applicant who alleged that the written exam discriminates against African Americans. The agency spent 16 months investigating the use of the test, which quizzed applicants on their reading and math abilities.
After reviewing the case, federal officials determined that the high rate at which blacks, Hispanics and Asians failed the test was “statistically significant” compared to whites. Settlement talks began in February 1999, a year before the lawsuit was filed, according to court documents.
The EEOC case dealt exclusively with the hiring process for casuals, nonunion longshore workers who get the jobs left over after all union members have been given their assignments.
Longshore jobs are highly sought after because of the high pay. The PMA, which administers the payroll for longshore workers, said entry-level ILWU members with a minimum of 2,000 hours experience earned an average annual salary of $101,554 in 1999.
Puliselich disagreed with that figure, saying the average annual salary is closer to $70,000, but varies wildly because workers can choose to work as few as three days or as many as seven days a week.
Coleman, the ILWU attorney, said the proficiency exam was added in 1997 because casuals are routinely required to perform the work of marine clerks, a post that requires reading and math skills and frequent use of computers. The test was discontinued in 1998.
Under the terms of the consent decree, any money is left over after compensating previous job applicants will be used to pay for diversity training at the two ports.
The decree also prohibits longshore workers from retaliating against any minorities who try to take advantage of the reopened application process, according to court documents.
“If they’ve been retaliated against,” Ehrlich said,“they can file charges.”
