LAYOFFS AND SENIORITY

WHEREAS, the AFT deplores the massive layoffs which have taken place in the Boston School system. The layoffs, which are in violation of the job security provisions of the union contract, have caused tremendous human suffering. Vital programs have been cut, class sizes have increased, educational opportunity has declined, and the overall quality of life in the schools has deteriorated; and

WHEREAS, in order to maintain a certain percentage of minority faculty as established by court order, the layoffs have been conducted on the basis of a racial quota rather than according to the seniority provisions negotiated by the Boston Teachers Union. Non-minority teachers with up to 18 years of seniority have been laid off while at the same time new minority teachers are still being recruited and hired; and

WHEREAS, the Boston Teachers Union, with the assistance of the AFT, is pursuing every avenue to see that funding is restored and the union contract adhered to. The BTU lost an Appellate Court review of a lower court decision ordering that the seniority provisions of the union contract be abrogated and a strict system of racial quotas to govern layoffs and recall established in their place. The BTU has appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of the United States and has requested the full support of the AFT; and

WHEREAS, it is important to point out that the Boston case is not a case in which individual victims of employment discrimination are seeking a remedy. None of the teachers now being given preferential treatment are identified victims of employment discrimination. This is not a situation of individual cases of discrimination, but of preferential treatment based on racial grouping in accordance with the court's ruling that the school children have a right to a certain percentage of minority faculty as part of the court's desegregation order; and

WHEREAS, the AFT has historically supported the principle that school faculties should be integrated. The AFT fought for the abolition of legal barriers to school and staff integration and led the way in implementing a number of staff development and job creation programs to help encourage faculty integration; and

WHEREAS, the AFT believes that the desirable goals of faculty integration cannot be achieved by taking jobs away from innocent teachers or by abrogating freely-bargained, democratically- approved and racially neutral contract provisions; and

WHEREAS, seniority has proven to be the most effective mechanism for protecting all workers-regardless of race, religion, sex or age-against the capricious or arbitrary actions of their employers.  Color-blind, race-neutral seniority systems are perhaps the most important safeguard won by the American labor movement over 100 years of struggle. For too many years, black workers were victimized by employers who hired them only when there were no available whites and fired them at the first opportunity. Seniority prevents such employment brutality. Seniority also prevents divisiveness among working people by distributing scarcity in a way that is objectively fair and therefore perceived to be fair.  It creates an equitable system of rewards for long-term professional commitment and sound job performance. Through seniority, employees earn entitlements upon which they base expectations and make plans which greatly affect themselves and their families; and

WHEREAS, the union is also concerned about the educational impact of substituting less experienced teachers for more experienced ones; and

WHEREAS, similar situations are already arising in other school districts, and if the appellate court decision stands, it could have broad implications for hundreds of other cities facing declining enrollments, diminishing funds and changing demographics. The arguments set forth by the court could lead to teachers being hired and fired on the basis of race or ethnicity as the demographics of a city change. It also opens the door to teachers being fired as a result of the evaluations or merit ratings or any other subjective criteria established by the courts:

RESOLVED, that the AFT will continue to work toward adequate funding for education so that every school system has the full complement of staff needed to deliver quality education to all our country's children; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will continue to work to remove all discriminatory barriers which stand in the way of minorities entering the teaching profession;, and

RESOLVED, that the AFT reaffirms its commitment to faculty integration through affirmative recruitment, while opposing affirmative action through layoff. We support staff development programs, education expansion, job creation and a full employment economy as affirmative action techniques; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT reaffirms its belief in the sanctity of contracts and the principle of seniority as the fairest method and best protection for all workers regardless of race, religion, sex or age; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT recommits itself to the policy language it adopted in 1976, in which it reaffirmed its long commitment to the principle of seniority and the need to adhere to it in times of layoffs: "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 dismissals. 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 majority. 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;" and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue its active support of the efforts of the Boston Teachers Union to have the United States Supreme Court grant review of the appellate court decision, and if review is granted, that the AFT file an amicus brief in the case.