Philadelphia Plan

Philadelphia Plan
Name	Philadelphia Plan
Formed	1967 (Revised 1969)
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Chief1 name	Arthur Fletcher
Chief1 position	Assistant Secretary of Labor
Parent department	United States Department of Labor
Parent agency	Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

Philadelphia Plan

The Philadelphia Plan was a groundbreaking affirmative action program established by the United States Department of Labor during the Presidency of Richard Nixon. It required federal construction contractors in the Philadelphia area to meet specific, enforceable goals for hiring minority workers, marking the first time the federal government mandated numerical goals and timetables for minority employment. The plan represented a significant shift in civil rights enforcement, moving from a general prohibition of discrimination to an active requirement for integration in the historically segregated construction industry.

Historical Context and Origins

The origins of the Philadelphia Plan lie in the long-standing racial exclusion practiced by many building trades unions, particularly in the Northeastern United States. These craft unions, such as those for electricians, plumbers, and ironworkers, often controlled access to skilled jobs through apprenticeship programs and union hall referrals, systematically excluding African Americans. By the late 1960s, despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the construction trades remained overwhelmingly white. In 1967, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) under the Lyndon B. Johnson administration issued an initial, voluntary version of the plan for Philadelphia, but it proved ineffective. The plan was significantly revised and strengthened in 1969 under Nixon's Secretary of Labor, George P. Shultz, with key advocacy from Arthur Fletcher, the Assistant Secretary of Labor. Fletcher, sometimes called the "father of affirmative action," argued that without specific hiring targets, the entrenched discrimination would never end.

Provisions and Requirements

The revised Philadelphia Plan, issued in June 1969, imposed mandatory requirements on contractors bidding for federal or federally assisted construction projects exceeding $500,000 in the five-county Philadelphia area. Contractors were required to submit an "Affirmative Action Program" before a contract award. The core provision was the establishment of "ranges" of minority employment goals for six skilled trades: ironworkers, plumbers and pipefitters, steamfitters, sheet metal workers, electrical workers, and elevator constructors. These goals were not rigid quotas but were defined as "good faith" targets based on the availability of minority workers in the local labor force. The plan required contractors to make every effort to meet these goals through expanded recruitment, training, and cooperation with minority business enterprises. Compliance was a condition of receiving and retaining federal contracts, with the threat of contract termination or debarment from future bids.

Implementation and Enforcement

Implementation was overseen by the OFCCP within the Department of Labor. The agency conducted pre-award reviews of contractor plans and post-award compliance reviews. Enforcement relied on the authority granted by Executive Order 11246, which prohibited discrimination by federal contractors. The Comptroller General of the United States, an official in the General Accounting Office, initially challenged the plan's legality, arguing it violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by requiring race-conscious hiring. However, the Nixon administration, through the United States Department of Justice led by Attorney General John N. Mitchell, forcefully defended the plan. The administration argued that the goals were a lawful remedy for past discrimination and a necessary means to ensure equal opportunity. This executive branch support was crucial for the plan's initial enforcement.

Political and Legal Challenges

The Philadelphia Plan faced immediate and fierce opposition from several fronts. Organized labor, particularly the AFL-CIO and its powerful building trades department, denounced it as a system of quotas that violated seniority rights and the principle of meritocracy. Some conservative critics and segregationist politicians, like Senator John Stennis of Mississippi, attacked it as "reverse discrimination." The legal challenge was settled in 1971 when the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in the case Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania v. Secretary of Labor, upheld the plan's legality. The court ruled that Executive Order 11246 and the plan were valid exercises of federal contracting power and did not conflict with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. This judicial victory solidified the legal foundation for race-conscious affirmative action programs in employment.

Impact on the Construction Industry

The direct impact of the Philadelphia Plan on minority employment in the Philadelphia construction trades was modest but symbolically profound. While the specific numerical goals were often not fully met, the plan broke the longstanding barrier of total exclusion. It forced construction contractors and trade unions to formally recruit and admit black workers into apprenticeship programs and onto job sites. The plan served as a model, leading to similar "home town" plans being imposed in other major cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City. It catalyzed the growth of minority-owned construction businesses and increased political pressure on unions to desegregate. However, it also fueled significant racial tensions on construction sites, sometimes leading to protests and wildcat strikes by white workers who felt threatened.

Legacy and Relation to Affirmative Action

The Philadelphia Plan's greatest legacy is its role in defining the modern policy of affirmative action in the United States. It established the precedent of using numerical goals and timetables as a compliance mechanism for federal contractors, a model that was soon applied beyond construction to all industries holding government contracts. The plan demonstrated that a Republican administration could advance a vigorous civil rights enforcement policy, partly to drive a wedge between the Democratic Party's traditional constituencies of organized labor and African American voters. It paved the . The legal and the the . The philosophical and legal debates it ignited over equality of opportunity versus equality of Labor, the of the United States Supreme Court in landmark cases like ''Regents Act of 1964 and the establishment of the Equal Employment in the United States.

Category:1969 in American law

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