Rift at the Top

George Meany and Walter Reuther have been feuding, publicly and privately, almost since the day that their unions joined to form the A.F.L.-C.I.O. eleven years ago. Meany, 72, the federation's president, has won the important points, and Reuther, 59, the top vice president, has usually knuckled under -- partly in hopes of winning the older man's support to succeed him.

Lately, however, the feud has grown increasingly bitter, and Reuther, who has just about abandoned hope of inheriting Meany 's job, has given every indication that he will go his own way on basic issues, taking his powerful, 1,500,000-member United Auto Work ers with him.

Last week, in a session with business students at the University of Pennsylvania, Reuther indicated that the dispute goes much deeper criticizing the basic philosophy and direction of the labor movement. By its failure to campaign for civil rights and to press the fight against poverty, said Reuther, organized labor has demonstrated that it is not "playing the role of a creative and constructive force" and is "failing in its broad social responsibility to the community."

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