Labor: The National Interest

As Jack Kennedy's Secretary of Labor, former A.F.L.-C.I.O. Special Counsel Arthur Goldberg has proved to have a way with both management and labor. He has helped to settle several strikes—from shipping and airlines to the Metropolitan Opera—with a combination of charm, cajolery and expertly applied pressure. But Goldberg has been bothered by the fact that both labor and management are intent only on their own interests in collective bargaining. Last week he was assailed by both management and labor for suggesting that a third interest, the national interest, should also sit at the bargaining table—and that...