The Humanitarians

The International Longshoremen's Association shut down the port of New York this month with a strike that the leaders labeled "spontaneous." The strikers knew better. At one strike meeting a member got up and asked: "What are the principles for which we are going out?" Without a word, an I.L.A. goon stalked over and slugged him in the face. As he toppled over, I.L.A. Chief Organizer Teddy Gleason boomed: "Now I'll answer the question. The principles are these: you go home, and you don't work. We don't want you guys asking questions."

The I.L.A. bosses called the strike against the New York-New Jersey Waterfront Commission, set up (with the approval of Congress) in 1953 to get rid of I.L.A. goons and racketeers. The commission had barred from the docks 670 hoodlums with criminal records, abolished the daily "shape-up" (at which I.L.A.-blessed bosses doled out jobs) and opened its own hiring halls for the port's 31,900 longshoremen. The I.L.A., which beat out an A.F.L. rival to win a union-shop contract last year, set out this summer to stop the commission's slow cleanup.

Last month a strike flared when the commission blackballed John McLoughlin, an I.L.A. pier boss and an ex-con (13 years in Sing Sing), arrested at various times for burglary, assault, gun-toting and bookmaking. A fortnight ago, despite court injunctions and its contract, the I.L.A. shut down the whole port--without a strike vote or any formal demands. Union leaflets demanded that the Waterfront Commission show a "humane approach towards men with police records." State governments of New York and New Jersey stood pat behind the commission. Last week, after eight days on strike, the I.L.A. settled for a face-saving formula: a citizens' committee to hear union complaints against the commission.

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