ANTIWAR SENTIMENT: BEGINS TO AFFECT UNION.-BUREAUCRATS IN U.S.
The official policy of the AFL-CIO bureaucracy headed, by George Meany is to stand to the right of the Chamber of Commerce = and ‘the National: Association of : ‘Manufacturers. ain Supporting Jobnson' s . escalation of ithe: war. in Vietnam. visions oan i \ + tion to the war among the American people hes led to restiveness in a sector of the bureaucracy, according to James A. Wechsler, writing in the May 11 issue of the liberal New York Post.
At a meeting “Of some 200 officials of ‘locals affiliated with _ 38 international unions, which was held in New York recently, a “motion was passed ‘to: establish a Trade Union Division of the Sane ‘Nuclear Policy Committee. Informal. conferences have been held since then in: Chicago and San Francisco. at. which: Johnson" s belligerent foreign Policy. was discussed.
"Most. of ‘the: names associated with the. ferment belong. to the second and third ‘echelons of the labor niovement," said Wechsler; few are Headline: figures. But this carm-hardly be dismissed 7as:.a “‘'far-out" expedition. There is reasom:to believe that its emergence ‘“yeflects' growing :‘restiveness in many labor sectors over the: mono~ lithic militancy (or meekness) that has characterized ‘the. AFL=CIO role in a great national debate.
“ Wechsler evén detects a-"certain defiance" that is "“symptomatic of a frustration and ‘unrest that: many observers detected ~ beneath the surface of the last AFL-CIO convention." No discussion of foreign ‘policy occurred at that gathering. In fact efforts.were made to. pass: a resolution that would have vgone beyond Johnson's position “and: “idéntified the ‘AFL-CLO. with ‘the American hegion 3 in. reckless eTam for Aarger: military measures. :
AG She’ miOnént , - the © N@tissidents ;" ‘as: . Wechsler calls them, do... not préjéct-any “sharp ° ‘struggbe. They merely seek a free discussion. ©. and "an end to the silence that is broken jonty | iby periodic state-. = ments of labor! S fealty to the Fresident.
"Tp: the: gmat t “begining: ‘of oiasurgence - now at: ‘hand, Wechsler .. comments , “there: ay be the ghkimpseof:an overdue debate. The SONS ic of union ‘men - are” > -berishing in Viet “Nam, along with, other Americans.
‘Up to now, the development of the antiwar movement has followed a rather classic pattern. The first voices of protest and "insurgence" came from the ‘revolutionary-socialist movement. Then it was'the turn of intellectuals. The first mass: protests appearéd on the campus in the form of teach-ins, rallies and picket lines. These: broadened into marches involving tens of thousands of people. But up to this point the working class, headed by an extremely conservative bureaucracy, has remained quiescent.
The significance of the moves reported by Wechsler is that the workers are becoming disturbed: over Johnson's war and are beginning to put pressure on the bureaucrats. The first to respond are minor officials, and the response, as expected, has been timid up to now.
-itéwever , this may portend the gathering of massive phalanxes...
If the American working class begins participating in the antiwar . movement, as it will inevitably at one point or another if Johnson continues his warmongering foreign policy, then they entire political scene will be shaken -~ _ and rapidly. ey,
ABRAM FISCHER