Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-02-02
ALL Promises Action
Against Union Linked
To Waterfront Crime
By james 7. Newton
Stor Stogg CORRESPONDENT


The American Federation of La
Dor today moved to clean up sew
eral of its union situations and
promised action on charges that
gangSterS are dominating the
AFL dockworkers' union in New
York City and New Jersey.
At the same time, the ALL
Executive Council at the opening
session of its winter meeting
agreed with the CLIO to begin
merger talks in Washington
February "a. Both the AFL and
the CIO have set up committees
for the conferences. The last
labor unity meetings were held
in July, 1850.
AFL President George Meany
said the council appointed a COM
mittee of three to- recommend
action in the New York water
front situation where a New York
State Crime Commission investi-
cation showed that gangSters
had moved in and taken control
of many locals of the Interna-
tional Longshoremens Associa-
ton.
I'VE are going to take some
action on the waterfront situa-
ton at this meeting of the coun-
Gill;" Mr.. Meany said.
First Concrete Promise.
!. Although the New York inves-
tigation of waterfront bribery,
graft and violence has been going
on for months, Mr.. Meany's an
nouncement was the first con-
crete promise that the ALL
would move to clean up the sit
uation.
The council may recommend
revocation of the longshoremens
international charter unless the
union cleans up its affairs.
The subcommittee which will
explore the waterfront situation
thoroughly is made up of AFL
Vice Presidents Charles j. Nc
Gowan, George M. Harrison and
Daniel w. Tracy.
In another attempt to clean
up, the council threatened to re-
woke the charter of a New York
City local of the AFL United
Auto Workers. The council told
the parent union that unless it
revoked the charter of Local 102
in New York, the ALL would
move to do so. Mr.. Meany said
there was evidence the local was.
being used by a group which is
not composed of auto workers
land in a certain sense does not
represent workers of any kind"
Used for Other Work.
Mr.. Meany said the locals
charter had been used in at
tempts to organize workers in In
dustries far af1eld from automo-
biles. including workers in the
textile, drugstore and taxicab
lines.
Today's meeting was the first
meeting of the AFL Executive
Council under Mr.. Meany, the
vigorous and outSpoken former
plumber from New York. He
took over leadership of the 8-mil-
lion-member AFL after the death
last November of William Green.
who had headed the federation
for % years.
Meanwhile. AFL officers de-
Scribed as 'innocuous" the Is
amendments to the Taft Hartley
labor law which were proposed in
bills introduced by Senator Taft.
Republican, of Ohio. They said If
the changes were made the law
hardly would be more palatable
to organized labor.
Changes to Be Sought.
Changes which the AFL will
try to push through Congress,
among others. would abolish the
provision for court injunctions
in so-called national emergency
strikes and legalize secondary
boycotts when used to support
legitimate strikers.
The AFL was waiting to exam
inc President Eisenhower'S state
of-the- Union message to Con-
gress for an indication of the
new administrations attitude
toward labor. The union lead
ers have adopted. a wait and
see" position toward the new
regime. They were pleased by
selection of one of their own peo-
pie, Martin P. Durkin, former
head of the ALL Plumbers I'm
ion, as Secretary of Labor. But
the federation is far from being
sold" completely on the Re