Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ttidcc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!whuxl!houxm!ihnp4!mhuxn!mhuxr!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!decvax!mcnc!philabs!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Newsgroups: net.politics,net.social,net.women,net.flame Subject: Re: Discrimination and Affirmative Action Message-ID: <493@ttidcc.UUCP> Date: Wed, 19-Jun-85 14:02:47 EDT Article-I.D.: ttidcc.493 Posted: Wed Jun 19 14:02:47 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 23-Jun-85 02:38:40 EDT References: <566@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> <449@unc.UUCP> <2973@cca.UUCP> Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Organization: The Cat Factory Lines: 39 Xref: watmath net.politics:9516 net.social:710 net.women:5999 net.flame:10686 Summary: In article <2973@cca.UUCP> diego@cca.UUCP writes: > > Sex- and race-biased imbalances in the workplace are not accidental >nor unconscious. They are, in fact, the result of very deliberate >selective hiring practices (you could call it "the principle of hiring >for similarity"). Absolutely true. Let me give an example from my real-world experience: Back in the early '70s I was working for the Los Angeles County Engineer, Aviation Division. At that time, _all_ airport attendants were male, by Division policy. Then the Board of Supervisors handed down an edict prohibiting sexual discrimination in hiring practices ... You wouldn't have believed the confusion. Two division chiefs and six airport managers were running around for weeks trying to figure a way to legally _not_ comply with the edict. They asked _everyone_, including me and some of the (female) secretaries(!), to dream up excuses for them. Typical excuse: "There aren't any women's showers at the airports." Pretty lame, right? Well, they used it. Note that we're not talking about a highly skilled position here. An airport attendant was a not-very-glorified gas pump jockey. In between fueling planes, they'd weed the median strips and perform miscellaneous janitorial tasks. Not what you'd call Doctorate level stuff. Nor did the job call for great physical strength. If this goes on in the Civil Service, imagine what happens in private business. -- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp TTI Common Sense is what tells you that a ten 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. pound weight falls ten times as fast as a Santa Monica, CA 90405 one pound weight. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe