Indian
hiring rule threatens jobs of five
Bangor Daily
News
01/23/02
PLEASANT POINT — A move to enforce an Indian-preference hiring policy that essentially has been ignored for 23 years means up to five longtime non-Passamaquoddy employees could lose their jobs.
Proponents of the policy say that by enforcing Indian preference hiring, young tribal members who now must leave the area to obtain good jobs would be able to find employment on the reservation in Washington County.
Opponents of the move maintain that the policy should not be enforced because it would be unfair to long-term employees.
Gov. Rick Doyle declined to comment Tuesday, saying the issue is an internal personnel matter. But Doyle and tribal council members are expected to deal with the issue sometime next month. The question of enforcing the policy was raised at a tribal council meeting last month by some tribal members.
As the issue has prompted debate on the reservation, somebody early Jan. 16 painted the word “racist” on the front and back entry doors as well as the doors that lead to the social services offices at the tribal headquarters building on Route 190.
Pleasant Point Police Chief Joseph Barnes said his department is investigating the vandalism.
At issue is a provision in the Passamaquoddy tribal personnel policy that allows the tribe to give preference to tribal members in hiring. “The tribe will adhere to an Indian Preference Policy in the recruitment and selection process. The purpose of Indian preference is to increase Indian employment for the tribe in order to further Indian self-determination,” the policy says. The policy says the jobs of non-Indian employees can be posted after three years.
The policy says all non-Indian employees will be informed of the three-year provision. After three years, the tribe has the option to advertise the job and replace the employee with a qualified tribal member.
The policy includes a provision that nontribal employees who support a tribal member would not be subject to dismissal after three years’ employment. It is up to the tribal council to decide how to determine whether a nontribal member is “supporting” a tribal member. The council also must decide whether some long-term employees should be exempt from the policy.
As written, the policy could affect five of the reservation’s 120 employees. But, although the provision has been on the books since 1978, it apparently has not been enforced.
Apparently, five jobs are affected by the debate, although the Bangor Daily News on Tuesday learned the identities of only two of the five employees.
One, Mary Lou Barnes, has worked in the social services department for the past two decades. She declined to comment Tuesday. Ginny Altvater, who has served as administrative assistant to various tribal governors, did not return a telephone call Tuesday.
The issue is not unique to the Passamaquoddy Tribe.
In 1999, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that the firing of an employee by the Penobscot Nation who had worked for the tribe as a nurse for 1½ years was an “internal tribal matter” and not subject to the employment protections offered by the Maine Human Rights Act.
Tribal Lt. Gov. Edward Bassett said he wanted to avoid misinformation about the issue. “I have a hard time discussing this with you, because it is an internal tribal matter,” he said. “But because other people might be sending the wrong message out there, I want to clarify that we have not targeted any individuals personally. We are trying to set policy around Indian preference,” he said.
He said the tribe should remove the preference provision from the personnel policy — if it is not going to be enforced.
But, Bassett added, by ignoring the policy, the tribe is losing some of its best-trained tribal members.
“Over the years we have noticed a trend of tribal members who come home after going to school and find there are no jobs,” Bassett said. “They have to look for jobs elsewhere, even off reservation. So we are educating and exporting our own tribal members off reservation in order for them to survive.
“As a result they lose their connection with the tribe,” Bassett said, “and that creates the problem of eroding our cultural base. So we are trying to preserve some of our cultural integrity in our community by trying to make jobs for tribal members. If we don’t look out for ourselves, who will?”