Clinton Signals Labor

RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, U.S. LABOR LEADERS ARE convinced that unrelenting hostility from a Republican White House is a major reason why union membership has shrunk to a five-decade low -- 16% of the work force. Ronald Reagan set the tone in 1981 by not only firing illegally striking air-traffic controllers but also decreeing a lifetime ban on rehiring them. Now Bill Clinton has let it be known that he is considering taking back those controllers (maybe 3,000 of an original 11,400 strikers) who still want their old jobs. As further proof that he wants an entirely different relationship with organized labor, the President struck down two George Bush Executive Orders especially hated by union leaders. One prohibited closed-shop contracts on federally financed construction jobs. The other required contractors to post notices informing workers that they did not have to join unions, and that if workers were forced to pay any money in lieu of dues, they could stop unions from using it for political purposes.