A strategy fails, and the Senate blocks the labor reform bill
The nation's labor unions have been dwindling in recent years in both membership and political clout. But they mustered all the lobbying power they could behind the Labor Reform Act of 1978. Pressured by AFL-CIO Boss George Meany, President Carter gave the bill forceful, if not all-out, support. But businessmen, large and small, rallied strong opposition, arguing that the bill would put them at a disadvantage with Big Labor and lead to a wave of organizing, particularly in the South, where unions have been weak. Last week, after the bill had...