1977-02 February IBEW Journal.pdf - International Brotherhood of ...

all would prosper s:we those: who had earned
the jusl repudiation of [he employer.
To be sure, [here Me some who h:l\'e
accepted this nonscnse, bUI they are princi.
pally the innocent, those unschooled in the
Byzantine ways of the corporate bureauc·
racy. In the years before the trade unions
brought thc justicc of seniority to thc Amer.
ican worker. who were the willing, the de·
serving, :md the talented?
Thc willing wcre those desperate for "·ork.
however meager the wage. The deserving
WUe those "'ho never complained, however
great the provocation. And the talented?
They were easy to locale for they were
those whose last names coincided happily
with the owners and manllgcr~ of the bu~i·
ness.
It is not dif1lcult to understand why wurk.
ers who h:we enjoyed the benefit~ equitably
conferred upon them by H syslem of senior.
ity rights would refuse to abandon them for
the uncertainties of an environment in which
e\'ery foreman becomes a tin God. Nor is it
astonishing that workers or professionals
who have once taken upon Ihemselves the
responsibilities and advantages of unionism
never voluntMily relinquish them, for they
have e.~perienced
the non-union way. Senior_
ity is not merely the best system for ju~tice
at the workplace, it is the onl y system.
There are no alteTfl;!tives.
llec:lUse the allacks from the right were
so openly and obviously anti-unionistic. they
were caw to reburr for they were seen for
"hat they "'ere. nut the allempts by the
politic;!1 left to undermine the seniority s)'s.
tern are more dangerous because their
spokesmen purport to be basically S ~' mpathetic
10 the principle of seniority.
Certain exponents of liberalism :Ind lead.
ers of the civil rights movements have :u1vo·
cated "modifications" in the seniority system
""hich will allegedly correct past inequities
to ethnic ;!nd sexual minorities. Phantom
seniority clauses or "y,-ork-shar ing~ provi.
sions would be inserted by fiat or taw into
collecti\'e b:lrgaining a~reements "hich
would have the erreci of forcing more senior
workers out of jobs while less senior "orkers
who were members of "minority" groups
would be retained. In this manner. mcmbcr~
of minority groups would be "compensated"
for pasl disnimination.
Those who advocale such measures fail
to address [hemseh'e~ to the problem of discriminatory
hiring practices over "hleh seniority
has lillIe erreet. If ",orken aTe hired
regardless of color. creed, sex. or age, Ihere
need be no concern Ihat thereafter they will
experience bias. A true seniority system i~
blind 10 all comidenltions except qu~lifications
and re:lrs of service. Always. il \lorh
to promote or prevent the la;'off of the mo~t
senior of those capable of performins the
work available. In short. it assu rl!S justice
T~gardl~ of denomination or 1:lbcl. And,
jtlstice is ;!11 that workers of :IIlY hue ha~e
e\'er asked.
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