Busting Bias in Steel

In most steel mills there are basically three kinds of jobs: well-paid craft and production posts for whites, dirtier and lesser-paid jobs for minorities and clerical jobs for women. A landmark consent decree signed last week by the United Steelworkers of America and nine major companies* promises to change that situation. The agreement, which ends a Government suit against the companies and the union, is the first job-discrimination settlement to cover almost an entire industry.

Under the agreement, some 40,000 women and minority workers will receive $30.9 million in back wages this year to compensate them for past discrimination. Half of all new craft and trade job openings, and 25% of all supervisory and management-training spots, must be given to women and minority workers until their representation in each job category equals specific standards that are now being set for each plant. Moreover, union members cannot lose seniority or pay by switching job categories.

Even so, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Organization for Women contend that the industry got off too easily, and are suing to have the decree set aside. Average back pay for each worker will come to $750; by contrast, a recent judgment against Northwest Airlines could be worth as much as $18,000 for a longtime employee. Also, the decree grants the industry immunity from any other job-bias suits until it expires in five years; if any are filed by workers who believe they are still being discriminated against, the Government will intervene on the side of the companies and union.

Government bias busters may have a chance to redeem themselves in the eyes of the civil rights groups. A number of federal agencies are investigating possible job discrimination at some of the largest U.S. corporations. General Motors, General Electric, Ford and Sears already have been named as targets by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and other cases are expected in such basic industries as copper and aluminum.

*Allegheny Ludlum, Armco, Bethlehem, Jones & Laughlin, National, Republic, U.S. Steel, Wheeling-Pittsburgh and Youngstown.

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