Lawsuit Targets Dock Testing.The federal government sued the Pacific Maritime Association The Pacific Maritime Association represents shipping companies and terminal operators. In a 2002 dispute with a longshoremen's union, 10,500 dockworkers were locked out because of an alleged slowdown. President George W. Bush is expected to invoke a cooling off period. and the International Longshore long·shore adj. Occurring, living, or working along a seacoast. [Short for alongshore.] and Warehouse Union in a discrimination case that could force them to pay $2.75 million in damages and force shippers to hire hundreds of minorities as apprentice dockworkers. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges that the institutions used a hiring test for apprentice dockworkers that was biased against Asians, Latinos and African Americans African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. , who purportedly failed the basic skills exam at a far higher rate than whites. Government attorneys said the lawsuit was a prelude to the filing of a federal consent decree A settlement of a lawsuit or criminal case in which a person or company agrees to take specific actions without admitting fault or guilt for the situation that led to the lawsuit. A consent decree is a settlement that is contained in a court order. that will reopen the hiring process for as many as 2,200 minorities, give them seniority toward union membership, and pay them a share of $2.75 million in compensation. |
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