LABOR: Paralysis in the Ports

From the headquarters of the International Longshoremen's Association in New York one midnight last week flashed the word to nearly 400 of the union's locals: strike. Shortly before, I.L.A. President William V. Bradley had waddled out of a negotiation session with the New York Shipping Association to give the reason: I.L.A. contracts had expired and "the employers have failed to grant [our] just demands." That morning 25,000 New York longshoremen responded to the strike call, and by week's end they had been joined by 35,000 other I.L.A. members from Portland. Me. to...