With a great flurry the A.F.L. ousted the racket-ridden International Longshoremen's Association in 1953, then set out to sweep the New York docks with its own substitute, the International Brotherhood of Longshoremen. Twice the I.B.L. exerted full and expensive (more than a million dollars) efforts in bargaining elections, lost out to the entrenched I.L.A.
Last week the word went round the docks that the A.F.L.-C.I.O. had decided to let the reform I.B.L. die on the vine. Reason: the firmly dug-in I.L.A. workers are making better money these days under more stabilized working conditions, provided by the New York Harbor Waterfront...