AS JOHN SWEENEY SAT IN HIS makeshift election headquarters at the Sheraton Hotel in New York City last week, he found himself in a rare position. The avowed rebel of American labor was counting his millions of admirers. Sweeney, 61, the insurgent candidate for president of the AFL-CIO, ticked off some of the army of unions whose support he is counting on: steelworkers, autoworkers, government workers, teamsters, machinists and, most recently, farm workers. His route to this point breaks all convention. Since the confederation known as the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations came together 40 years ago, its presidency...
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