Into the Open

Although some of its member unions have endorsed presidential candidates in recent elections, the American Federation of Labor has not done so since 1924, when its Executive Council supported Bob La Follette on a third-party ticket. Ever since passage of the Taft-Hartley Law in 1947, however, some A.F.L. leaders (notably the Garment Workers' Dave Dubinsky, the Railway Clerks' George Harrison and A.F.L. Secretary Treasurer George Meany) have been determined to maneuver the federation into openly avowed support of the Democratic presidential candidate. Dubinsky & Co., maneuvered well. Last week, when 800 delegates to the federation's 71st annual convention arrived in New York, the stage was all set for the A.F.L. to proclaim its loyalty to Adlai Stevenson.

A month ago the federation's Executive Council invited Dwight Eisenhower to speak to the convention, an invitation which Ike accepted in full awareness that he could not hope for the A.F.L.'s endorsement. When he appeared in the Hotel Commodore's ballroom last week, A.F.L. men gave him a polite but restrained hand.

Early in his speech Ike struck at the Administration's labor record, said that in 1946, while he was Chief of Staff, he was directed to return to Washington from vacation to assume command of railroad strikers who were to be drafted. Said Ike: "With a bitter protest, I refused ... I was a soldier and not a strike breaker." (Next day Truman denied Ike's story, though he could not deny that in 1946 he had asked Congress for the power to draft railway strikers.)

Then Eisenhower got down to the Taft-Hartley Law. While his audience sat in stony silence, the General said: "I am in favor not of repealing, but of amending, the law." Later when he said that the law must be altered to prevent union-busting, and that employers as well as union leaders should take the non-Communist oath, he got cheers.

As this week began, Adlai Stevenson came up to bat before the convention. Amidst shouts of approval, Stevenson declared that he favored repeal of the Taft-Hartley Law--"not a recap job with reclaimed Republican rubber." He urged that the Department of Labor be given more funds and functions, and called for the presence of more labor representatives in "positions of key responsibility in Government." The delegates who had given Ike a tepid reception now whistled and shouted, "Pour it on, Steve." With the Stevenson speech over, the A.F.L. Executive Council recommended that federation members support Adlai Stevenson for the presidency.

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