Second-Act Sag

Handsome David McDonald, president of the C.I.O. United Steelworkers, once studied the theatrical arts. An amateur playwright, he put on a suspenseful production last week at the union's Atlantic City convention. McDonald, who greatly dislikes C.I.O. President Walter Reuther, had set the stage for conflict. He erased mention of the C.I.O. from his union contracts this year and even told newsmen not to describe the Steelworkers as C.I.O. He still paid $100,000 monthly dues to the C.I.O. for his 1,200,000 members (nearly one-fourth of the national C.I.O.'s revenues and strength), but a dramatic break seemed likely at the convention. Reuther was snubbed; no national C.I.O. officials were invited.

For two days, as the 2,800 delegates waited and wondered, McDonald was ill abed. On the next day he ended the suspense, and proclaimed: "I'm not mad at the C.I.O. Don't get me wrong. I want unity. That's what I'm making all this noise about. I want labor unity." But he gave notice that, at the C.I.O.'s December convention in Los Angeles, he will demand Reuther's resignation as president either of the C.I.O. or of the United Auto Workers, his basic source of strength. Reuther is not likely to give up either job peacefully. Despite last week's second-act sag, Dramatist McDonald seemed set on staging a crashing climax.

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