Though he is a plumber by trade, AFL-CIO President George Meany becomes a master stagehand when he sets up an appearance by President Nixon before the nation's labor leaders. Late in 1971, when union bosses were complaining that wage-price controls were rigged against workers, Meany personally wet-blanketed the President; he even forbade the union orchestra to play Ruffles and Flourishes when Nixon arrived at the AFL-CIO convention. But a rapprochement began when Meany turned benevolently neutral in last year's election. Last week, if music had been called for when Nixon addressed a closed-door session of the AFL-CIO executive council in...
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