Labor Decides to Mugwump It

UNTIL George McGovern won the nomination, no Democratic presidential candidate would have dared face the Republicans without near-solid labor support. With McGovern, times have changed. Not only does he profess to be undaunted at the prospect of massive labor desertions; he sounds positively defiant. When he learned that the executive council of the AFL-CIO had voted to stay neutral in the election, he retorted: "Now either that's a calamity or it's a signal that a new day is here in which we're going to test whether the union power brokers are alive or dead. I don't know the answer to that, but I won the nomination over their active opposition. That may be a sign of things to come."

Alive. For the moment, AFL-CIO President George Meany is acting very much alive, or at least pretending that he is not dead. He behaved last week as if he were conducting his own-nominating or non-nominating convention, one that was far superior to what he regards as the debacle in Miami Beach that produced McGovern. Meany won a landslide victory when the council voted 27 to 3 to endorse neither McGovern nor Nixon. In a tone as matter-of-fact as if he were discussing the pros and cons of a pipe fitting, the onetime plumber said he doubted that "McGovern is good material. We don't think he would be in the best interest of labor. My interests would be if we could find some way to defeat both of them." He reminisced about the perennial Socialist candidate for the presidency who died in 1968: "If only Norman Thomas were alive today."

Since Big Labor began endorsing presidential candidates in 1944, this is the first time that it has failed to support the Democratic nominee--an indication of how far both Meany and McGovern have strayed from traditional Democratic practices. The two are not on the same political wave length, and never will be. For one thing, McGovern irked the labor chieftain by not voting with labor on every issue before Congress. For another, Meany is such an unrepentant hawk that he has been heard to refer to McGovern as "Mr. Surrender." He was horrified when McGovern was quoted as saying that he would "beg" Hanoi to release the prisoners of war. Never mind that Ted Kennedy said he would crawl on his hands and knees to get the prisoners back. Meany trusts Kennedy and does not trust McGovern. Meany was equally indignant when labor was beaten and bypassed at the Democratic Convention. He believes, moreover, that McGovern is bound to lose, and he does not want labor to be tainted with the defeat.

The labor chief freely acknowledges that the council's action will help Nixon. "Without labor, it hurts," conceded Vice-Presidential Nominee Tom Eagleton. "It hurts in terms of fundraising. It hurts in terms of personnel for voter registration and other nitty-gritty but necessary projects." The staunch backing of labor almost made Hubert Humphrey President in 1968. It is estimated that as much as $6,000,000 was raised for him by COPE, the political arm of the AFL-CIO. McGovern believes that if necessary he can do without such financial support. "The question," he said, "is whether Governors can any longer deliver their states. Can a mayor deliver his city? Can a union leader deliver his union? Can a priest deliver his parish? These are the kinds of questions that I think we're waiting for answers on."

Meany thinks he knows the answer.

Labor--and he--can still deliver. His very success with the council was a clear demonstration of that.

Many members of the executive council were not keen on refusing to support McGovern. But Meany lobbied hard and made an adroit compromise. Once the council had voted, he announced, the union affiliates could do as they pleased. They could endorse McGovern (or Nixon) if they wanted to. This stand helped to swing enough votes to his side to give him an impressive victory. Floyd Smith, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, had already endorsed McGovern. But he went along with Meany in order to maintain a show of labor unity. Eagleton did his best to delay the vote; he tried in vain to get on the phone to Meany. McGovern sent out 150 letters to union presidents pledging an administration that would be friendly to them. But Meany's strategy was to strike while tempers were hot from the convention and to deliver McGovern a blow from which he would not be able to recover.

Entrenched as he is, however, Meany does not speak for all of labor. By refusing to endorse McGovern, he has created a division that could weaken if not shatter labor solidarity. Polling 72 out of the 117 unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO, TIME Correspondent Kay Huff discovered that 32% of the leaders questioned favor endorsing McGovern; 4% are for Nixon; the rest are biding their time. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (the fastest-growing affiliate) backs McGovern and has put out a poster attacking Nixon for not ending the war in Viet Nam. Although I.W. Abel, president of the United Steelworkers of America, is adamantly opposed to the Democratic candidate, he is under pressure from big locals in his union to change his stand. Outside the AFL-CIO, the powerful United Auto Workers is expected to endorse McGovern in the near future. Says one labor official: "I think you'll see just about all the big industrial unions coming through for McGovern before this thing is over."

But even if that happens, Richard Nixon will still enjoy more support from organized labor than any other Republican presidential candidate in American history. Off and on throughout his first term, the President has maneuvered to win over unions that might agree with him on such non-bread-and-butter issues as law-and-order, the war and radicalism. Once the executive council voted, Republican Campaign Manager Clark MacGregor was quick to point out the rebuke to the "McGovern elite, which makes the ordinary workingman feel unwelcome and unwanted." In New York State, formerly the citadel of pro-Democratic labor, Nixon may be supported by as much as half of organized labor, including the Uniformed Firefighters Association, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the International Longshoremen's Association and the Seafarers' International Union.

Throughout the country, the construction unions, with more than 3,000,000 members, are expected to vote heavily for Nixon. Last week the nation's largest union, the Teamsters, endorsed the President--thus consummating what appears to be a political deal. Not only did the President spring former Teamster Boss Jimmy Hoffa from prison last year; the White House also appointed current Teamster President Frank Fitzsimmons to the Pay Board and to the board of directors of COMSAT. Fitzsimmons' wife Mary Patricia was placed on a federal arts commission. Last week it was announced that charges of misusing Teamster funds had been dropped against Frank Fitzsimmons' son Richard. On the same day the union endorsed the President, the Administration passed the word that it would no longer support a compulsory arbitration bill designed to prevent crippling transportation strikes. Its excuse was that the bill stood no chance of being passed during this session of Congress. The White House also does not want to do anything to offend labor when its support is needed to assure the grain sale to the Soviet Union.

How much weight the union endorsements will carry is another matter. Even Meany admits that the "idea that we can control the rank and file is ridiculous." Workers are just as free --and increasingly as likely--as other men and women to vote their consciences, their instincts, their whims. What matters most is the money that labor can provide its chosen candidates, and it remains to be seen how much aid McGovern has lost because of Meany's ire.

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