Evening star., 1955-11-06


The merger question viii
Of the two organizations meeting
separately on December and 2.
Then. providing all goes well. the
first AFL-CIO convention win open
December S. The main JOB before
that convention win be to approve
a constitution which has been
rather painfully drafted over the
months.
That the delegates viii approve
the merger is foregone conclusion.
The product of the union viii be
as cumbersome as its official name
The American Federation of La
Dor and Congress of Industrial Or
ganizations. 1t viii bring together.
at least ON paper. l09 national and
international unions, now loosely
knit in the AFL, and 80 interna-
tional unions of the CIO which.
under the organizational structure
Of that group. have been more
tightly bound.
Headaches
H..
There still are some preliminary
problems to be worked out before
the December conventions and the
sailing will be far from smooth after
that.
Only time win tell whether the
creation of the New York conven-
tions will prove to be the powerful
voice of the working people. fulfill
ing the dreams Of AFL President
George Meany and CIO President
Walter p. Reuther. or the "rope of
sandp forecast by powerful John L.
Lewis, sevefest critic of the unity
plan. whose United Mine Workers
were not invited to take part in it.
The probability is that the new
product win fall somewhere be-
tween those expectations, bearing
more resemblance to the loose
jointed AFL than to the more pur-
poseful CIO.
Regardless OF what happens after
December. the fact that the AFL
and CIO. with their diverse eco
nomic and political views, could get
together at all comes under the
heading Of a minor miracle. True,
there have been unity talks and
conferences almost from the time
John Lewis signalled the AFL split
by punching b fellow officer on the
nose at the 1885 convention. But
no one took the talk seriously. in
cluding the participants.
The idea Of a merger was con-
sidered silly only few years ago.
Credit for what has happened must
be given to Mr.. Meany and Mr..
Reuther. who made labor unity q
common goal when they took ONCE
three years ago. and worked untir-
1ngly to achieve it.
Top Officers
Besides drafting the proposed
constitution, unity negotiators for
the AFL and CIO have reached
agreement. firm or tentative, on
nearly all top officers and on irlte-
grafton Of stats.
Mr.. Meany viii be president and
William P. Schnitzler, AL secre-
tary-treasurer. viii assume the
same post in the new organization.
Mr.. Reuther win be q vice president
in charge Of functions not con1s
pletely defined, but which probably
win include the operation Of an in
dustrial organization or CIO depart
ment. There viii be i've other trade
departments. all bearing the same
names as those OF the AFL now
building and construction, metal.
union label. maritime and railway.
The supreme governing body of
the AFL-CIO win be the convention,
which win meet every two years.
II viii elect the officers. Between
conventions the organization win
be governed by an executive coun-
Gil. to meet every three months.
Its membership Of 20 viii include
the president. secretary-tre treasurer
and N vice presidents, 10 initialiy
from the CTO and n from the AFL.
There viii be an Executive Com
mittee Of eight. including, the
president. secretary-treasurer and
six vice presidents tthree each from
the AFL and CIOl, which will meet
bi-nonthly to consider policy
matters
A third executive group will be
the General Board of ITO members.
to meet at least once q year TO
decide .all policy questions re-
ferred to it by the oficers or
executive council. 1t will include
members Of the executive council
plus the president or other principal
ofiicer Of each union.
Compromise
Three highly important posts in
the new AFL-C -CIO are those DEALING
with political action, legislation and
organization It was announced
last week that John livingston,
vice president OF Mr.. Reuther's
United Auto Workers, and q mem-
her Of the old Federal Wage
Stabilization Board, would head up
the work Of organizing the unor-
ganized In the new setup. In
selecting Mr.. Livingston, unity ne
gotiators passed over both Harry
r. OReilly and John Rife, now
directors Of organization for the
AFL and CTo. respectively.
Tentative agreement repeatedly
has been reached on the super
vision Of political activities. Polit-
ical action. it is said, will be directed
t0intly hy James McDevitt, and .Yarlr