No doubt, some employers may hire members of the designated groups just to give the illusion of progress. But this is not what employment equity is about. A successful plan will ensure that there are no tokens - only qualified workers of diverse backgrounds. As women, visible minorities, aboriginal peoples, and people with disabilities enter workplaces in greater numbers, everyone will have to adapt. Over time, we will all learn that we share common ground, as workers and as trade unionists.
Employment equity is about respecting differences.
In a context of long standing inequality, we cannot achieve genuine equality unless we make a special considerations. In the pre-War years, foundry work was a far cry from what it is today. The work was hot, dirty, hazardous, and physically demanding. Many white native-born employees simply refused to work in this section of GM's St. Catharines plant. Consequently, in the early 1900s, company agents scouted the central United States to recruit Armenians for these jobs.