Summit County Labor News

AFL
and CIO Leaders
Hope
to
Pave Way
For
Final Vote

AFL President George Meany announced he will sit down with CIO President Walter Reuther shortly after New Year's to arrange for resumption of unity conferences by committees representing both organizations.

Meany said he had discussed the desirability of prompt action on this problem in a long telephone conversation with the newly elected CIO leader.

Appearing on the "Man of the Week" program over the CBS Television Network, Meany declared that a united labor movement in America would be in a far better position to organize the unorganized and to cope with legislative pressure against labor in the new Congress.

Meany did not minimize the difficulties confronting the AFL and CIO conferees in trying to work out a merger of the two organizations. He mentioned particularly the problem of rival unions operating in the same field, seeking the right to organize the same workers.

However, he pointed out that previous peace conferences in the past had twice come to the point of virtual agreement on a merger only to have the negotiations indefinitely postponed in 1950 because of the illness of the late Philip Murray.

Interviewed by reporters on the TV program, Meany made some other newsworthy observations, as revealed in the following excerpts from the transcript.

Q. Do you think labor unity is so important it would be worth setting aside all personal differences? A. Yes, I think so.

Q. If the cost of CIO and AFL unity was your stepping down from the presidency, would you do it? A. I would.

Q. What do you think about the prospects for labor under the new administration? I was wondering if the appointment of Martin Durkin as Secretary of Labor means the Eisenhower administration will be friendly to labor? A. I am hopeful that the Eisenhower administration will be friendly and I am quite convinced that the general wants to be friendly.

Q. How would you expect the administration to show its friendliness towards labor with specific acts? A. We are going to look for amendments to the Taft-Hartley Act and we hope we can work out amendments. We are even hopeful we will be able to work out amendments with Senator Taft. General Eisenhower stated there are certain things he didn't like in the act, that he felt certain provisions were unfair to labor and he has stated quite plainly that he was going to see that those things were removed. I am not over-optimistic about it but I am quite hopeful that we will be able to work out some kind of amendments to the act.

Q. What can you expect out of the administration aside from any help they might give you in legislation? What can the President do by executive order and leadership? A. I don't know that there is anything we want by executive order. We do want to cooperate in the national defense program. We feel we are American citizens; that we play an important part in supplying the things that are necessary for an army to fight and for an army to live and for the economy at home and we want to make that contribution. I am quite sure the President-elect wants that sort of contribution from labor.

Unity
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