Look for The Union Label

By Janice Castro

Washington warmly welcomed new Israeli Prime Minister YITZHAK RABIN's decision last week to call a temporary halt to new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But a major sticking point in U.S.-Israeli relations remains. The White House wants to sell 72 F-15 Eagle bombers to Saudi Arabia. Israel strongly opposes the sale, but McDonnell Douglas and its suppliers have been pressing Bush to let the sale go through. Last week the powerful 800,000- member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers added to the election-year pressure on Bush, insisting that if the $5 billion sale is killed, nearly 40,000 aerospace jobs will be lost. Already facing major losses as defense spending is reduced, the aerospace workers are pressing Bush to save them "from the human scrap heap."