REUTHER-MEANY FEUD AND THE CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600460015-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 17, 2000
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: May 2, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

. +Y~4Y ~ 1967
Approved For Release 2000/~~ ~
CPYRGHT
~cl f ~ .r'~ ~ry~Y ~-~t7I ~1J LJ~
1 ?lJ .~ ~ ~i~.l aJ J
~~~~~ ~e~~~~ aid ~:~~ ~~
1 t AS:IiNGT0.1-There will be less cloak and more
`; =dagger in the upcoming esca]ation of the CIA. saga.
'i`,e ramparts are clulet now in the private sear of Walter
and Victor Reuther against labor's elder statesmen. But
not for ]ong.
The Reuthers are continuing their barrage of charges
that the nation's number one labor leader, George iL2eany,
and his AFL-CIO International Affairs Dept. were the
conduit of CIA cash being tunneled to anti,Comznunist
says he. And in these background battles, the forces and
philosophers of Meany's tradition have been hurt by ?~
charges that they front for the CIA.
The Meany forces are not quite Certairy Just why the ..
Reutli'ers unleashed the CIA saga, The record shows that
the CIA was told bluntly to "Keep its hands off American
labor."
That occurred?early in '53 in the office of the late Gen
? Walter Bedell Smith, then CIA Director. This never has-?
forces abroad'. Now it can be expected that the charges been reported,-but Meany, David Dubinsky, Jay Lovestone
will .?everse-perhaps boomerang. and the late AFL vice president, Matthew Woll, creator
',~c:.c elder statesmen are wise. Their private Intel- ~ of -the federation's global Free Trade Union Committee,' ,
si;cnce networks-without which no leader succeeds- i~ .. visited him in his office. They told him to keep CIA agents
rc~ort thaw the accusers themselves may have been con- away from labor and not to harass the committee or its
..-_.ts #or an extraordinary flow of cash to favored foreign officials, nor.to attempt to use it as s cover. Smith agreed.-;
~4aders, especially in Germany and Italy. True, a few unions did run "cover" for CIA ten years
There's no doubt that the CIA-Reuther story will get , ?_: later.'But some were units of Walter Reuther's own CIO.-_
a full treatment during the AFL-CIO's high command And, as of the moment, at least one of them has nat yet.'
session here shortly. ,~"been publicly exposed. -
~ ~ ~
TH'~RE MUST BE a review of the CIA "story:' It
is 'xiomentarily out of the headlines-but not out of this
wo:d. ~i:,e underground battle for labor leadership cones
tir.:~es a:,ross the world. Tough forces 'which reflect
wieany's immovable opposition to accommodating the Com-
munist l,.nds are battling against the accommodationists
msidr, every international labor secretariat-and fight
~erccly inside every national labor movement across the
THE ItEUTHERS nave long been active on foreign .
fronts. They spent considerable cash in the early days of
'the German Federal Republic, building a anan named Otto
Brenner into a power in that country's Metal Workers-
naw the world's largest union,-of which Brenner 7a today
president. Also, the Reuthers spent heavily of time, money
and manpower in France and Italy. Generally they back
forces to the left of those supported by Meany.
Today the Reuthers are active in the Spanish labor
-
of tomorrow. He who leads labor abroad frequently leads ?
:as :;.anon. ~ ,
lv~eany, Just back from. Germany, believes the YT. S.
L&,tin America, and even to Japan.
It is arv understatement merely Ito say that this war' ,
within a war is vital. A' world's at stake. Remember, the
labor leader of yesterday is the prime minister'oi! tomor-
should be setting something for its "bridge~,,to the East:' , ' row-from- Singapore t0 ,$111gsto1l , fm~7. Oonakrr t0
They fight because they know that the labor leader . 'concentrations
from the European mainland to Africa,.
Approved For Release 2000/08/03 :CIA=RDP75-001498000600460015-3