Union Coverage

I’m still unhappy with your story (“Unions’ Future Questioned After Summer of Setbacks,” Aug. 15) on the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago. It presented a gloomy view of organized labor’s problems with, of course, some optimistic balance from Lane Kirkland and the like.

Inexplicably, though the story rated a half-column on page 1 and a half-page inside, it never mentioned the Beck decision (Communications Workers of America vs. Harry Beck) by the Supreme Court last year, establishing the right of all union members to withhold their dues from any union agenda relating to political or social activities with which they disagree, while retaining full union representation, pension and welfare benefits. This is the single most significant event in the American labor movement in 50 years. It’s a dark thunderhead looming over the future of the AFL-CIO.

The Writers Guild strike last year, one of the longest (five months) and most bitter in the history of the film industry, collapsed a few weeks after the Beck decision, when a dozen major writers threatened to claim limited . . . membership under its terms. Beck ended mandatory union solidarity as a condition of employment. Because of this, I predict there will never be another major strike in the film industry.

It’s widely suspected among union activists that the media are participating in a conspiracy of silence on the Beck decision. (“If we don’t report it, it didn’t happen, it doesn’t exist.”) Your coverage of this story supports that unsavory conclusion. The Times is one of the nation’s major newspapers. Don’t you think you should cleanse your reputation on this issue?

CHARLTON HESTON

Beverly Hills