Alaniz

On April 1, 1976, this Court approved a settlement in this class action employment discrimination suit affecting employment practices in the food processing and canning industry in Northern California. The Settlement Agreement and Consent Decree (the Decree), effective June 15, 1976, altered seniority, job bidding, and job-training procedures within the industry and established other mechanisms intended to achieve the basic objective of opening up higher-paying and year-round positions for female and minority group workers.

Before the Court is a motion to modify the Decree in several respects, the most important of which is to recognize seniority “according to each employee’s most recent seasonal seniority date”. Also before the Court is a motion to intervene on behalf of eighteen Anglo males. For the reasons hereinafter stated, the motion to modify the Decree is granted effective September 29, 1976, and the motion to intervene is denied.

I.

Preliminarily, it is appropriate to review the procedural posture of the case. This action was filed December 3, 1973, by the plaintiffs, representing a class of female and minority workers. The action, brought pursuant to Title…