102. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Secretary of State and George Meany, President of AFL–CIO, Department of State, Washington, February 28, 19561
SUBJECT
- Conversation with Mr. George Meany
The Secretary opened by outlining President Gronchi’s constitutional position in the Italian Government and certain other matters relative to President Gronchi personally, and particularly to his present visit to the United States. The Secretary emphasized that these matters were for Mr. Meany’s confidential information and background, inasmuch as Mr. Meany would be seeing President Gronchi. The Secretary also outlined our hopes as to certain positive results which we hoped would develop from this visit.
Mr. Meany said that the American labor movement felt it had a large stake in Italy. He said that the American labor leaders had created a balance wheel to Communism in Italy when they had been instrumental in getting Italian labor to stop organizing on a political or [Page 340] semi-religious basis after the war. He stated that it was largely A. F. of L. pressure which influenced Italian labor groups to break away from the old groupings of competitive Christian Democrat and fragmented Socialist labor organizations (such as those headed by Pari and Canini) and to combine in CISL under Pastore in 1948. Mr. Meany said that if Gronchi now plays with Nenni, it would weaken this new united and democratic trade union influence in Italy.
He pointed out that there is already some tendency to return to the old fragmented groupings, and mentioned both the UIL and some strong Catholic pressures to fragment the anti-Communist CISL grouping. He pointed out that Pastore comes from among the old right-wing Catholic leadership, and is constantly under pressure from some of his old associates, whose aims are entirely different, but whose plans, if carried out, would play into the Communist hands.
Mr. Meany emphasized the vital concern of American labor leaders in this whole problem, and also mentioned the problem of the possible corollary effect such a regression might have in Germany.
Mr. Meany wondered whether Gronchi was merely naive or whether he really saw the consequences of flirtation with the Nenni Socialists. He mentioned that he had read somewhere an article stating that we misunderstood Gronchi and that his intention was to invite Nenni into the government only on condition that he broke completely with the Communists. [1½ lines of source text not declassified]
Mr. Meany recalled that Gronchi himself had his background in the trade union movement, specifically in the old “white” union (as opposed to the “red” union) which antedated Mussolini.
Mr. Meany closed by re-emphasizing his and other labor leaders’ deep concern in this matter and stating that he intended to make this concern clear to Gronchi.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 765.00/2–2856. Confidential. Drafted by Hanes.↩