United Steelworkers of America v. Weber

United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and Kaiser Aluminum (defendants) adopted a 1974 collective-bargaining agreement with an affirmative-action plan reserving at least half of new craftworker-trainee positions for Black workers until their proportion among craftworkers approximated their share of the local labor force, addressing a workforce that was almost exclusively white because Kaiser had only hired craftworkers with prior craft experience, a requirement Black workers had historically been excluded from meeting due to discriminatory craft unions. Brian Weber (plaintiff), a white production worker passed over for a trainee slot despite more seniority than some selected Black workers, sued alleging the plan violated Title VII; the trial court and Fifth Circuit ruled for Weber, and Kaiser and USWA sought Supreme Court review.