SENIORITY

Seniority is one of the most important benefits union members gain through collective bargaining. It is the mainstay of union efforts to create a fair and objective system of rewards for long-term professional commitment and sound job performance. For those who have proven themselves through continued employment, seniority offers the fairest criterion for awarding a wide variety of negotiated benefits. Seniority is the rightful determinant of some fringe benefits; of protection from layoffs; of recall priorities; of promotional opportunities and of other advantages that may be available to employees on a competitive basis.

The American Federation of Teachers sees seniority as a central feature of an equitable, objective system of labor-management relations. It is one mechanism for neutralizing the arbitrary, politically-motivated ways decisions are often made by school administrators and local school boards.

Today seniority is under attack. Unfortunately, grievances which clearly stem from conditions of high unemployment are being mistakenly attributed to seniority systems. In the schools, unemployment based on fiscal problems is made worse by declining enrollments. In beleaguered large city systems the hard-won gains of minority groups are being rapidly eroded as budgetary cutbacks lead to layoffs and educational retrenchment. Those who are only beginning to gain their rightful place in the mainstream of the educational work force are having their professional lives cut short and their hopes dashed. Even as some jobs are being lost for economic reasons, others calling for new and specialized talents in bilingual education and handicapped education are being created by court mandate. The result may be competition and hostility among different groups of employees and an attack on seniority from those who suffer while others are protected. Management has nothing to lose and everything to gain from this atmosphere.

This critical focus on seniority really should be a focus on jobs. The first answer to the just demands of all groups for jobs is a full-employment economy. The interests of the labor movement in employment and the interests of the civil rights movement in job opportunities come together in the struggle to create more jobs. In a stable, full-employment economy seniority is a principle which the newly-employed as well as career professionals can both respect. When jobs are safe, seniority is more readily supported as something which all groups can work toward and eventually benefit from.

But even in times of high unemployment and economic recession, seniority must be defended. It is one of a worker's chief protections against arbitrary dismissal. Layoffs must not be selectively directed at employees that have previously been judged competent simply because they lack membership in some ethnic, racial or sex group. Today's minority group may be tomorrow's majori4. Without seniority, a black worker who has fought his way into a system might be edged out by a member of an even newer group. Seniority cannot allow for preferential treatment in terms of quotas. Its application must be blind to race, sex and background.

Nor can the administration of a seniority system encourage or allow for discrimination. Efforts of school systems to prevent integration by dividing employees into even smaller seniority units cannot be tolerated. Where individuals can prove discrimination in hiring they deserve both seniority and job rewards. Teachers whose category of specialization is abolished should retain their seniority in the system as a whole and have every opportunity to qualify for those jobs which remain.

Until specialized teaching licenses are created which have the same legal weight as the licenses of other professions, senior teachers should have the opportunity to re-qualify in new areas of concentration when cutbacks occur.

With these broad general principles as a framework, the American Federation of Teachers recommends the following specific proposals with regard to seniority:

Senior employees should not be asked to bear the burden of layoffs and retrenchment they did not cause. Layoffs can never be used as the occasion to fire long-term employees simply so newer employees can be retained.

Faculty integration can best be achieved through job creation programs for teachers as well as support personnel. These might include expanded early childhood education, enrichment programs for the disadvantaged, specialized reading programs, paraprofessional programs, career ladder programs and others.

When layoffs occur senior employees should have the first right of recall on a system-wide basis.

Where individuals can prove discrimination in hiring they should be awarded not only the job originally denied but their rightful place in the seniority structure.

Where layoffs occur senior employees should be provided with inservice education to enable them to re-qualify for available jobs.

In states where layoffs are occurring a statewide pool of laid-off employees should be established. Such employees should be given the opportunity to take jobs which become available in any district in the state before new employees are hired.

It is only fair that the worker who has put the biggest part of his life into a job has the strongest claim to keep it.  It is those who have shown the greatest commitment to their professional careers through length of service who should receive the highest priority for job retention. This commitment should also be rewarded with higher salaries and other job benefits. Rather than attacking seniority those suffering job loss should help focus on full employment as a major national priority.