The Steamship Clerks Union has approximately 124 members, 80 of whom are classified as active. Members serve as steamship clerks who, during the loading and unloading of vessels in the port of Boston, check cargo against inventory lists provided by shippers and consignees. The work is not taxing; it requires little in the way of particular skills. On October 1, 1980, the Union formally adopted the membership sponsorship policy (the MSP), which provided that any applicant for membership in the Union (other than an injured longshoreman) had to be sponsored by an existing member for his application to be considered. The record reveals, without contradiction, that (1) the Union had no African American or Hispanic members when it adopted the MSP; (2) blacks and Hispanics constituted from 8 percent to 27 percent of the relevant labor pool in the Boston area; (3) the Union welcomed at least thirty new members between 1980 and 1986 and then closed the membership rolls; (4) all ‘‘sponsored’’ applicants during this period and, hence, all the new members, were Caucasian; and (5) every recruit was related to (usually the son or brother of) a Union member.
After conducting an investigation and instituting administrative proceedings, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought suit, alleging that the Union had discriminated against African Americans and Hispanics by means of the MSP.
Explain whether or not the EEOC will prevail.