George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO, has named a five-man delegation to make a goodwill visit to Israel in response to an invitation from Yerucham Meshel, acting secretary general of Histadrut. The group will arrive in Tel Aviv on Jan. 21 and spend a week in the country.
Heading the delegation is Lane Kirkland, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. He will be accompanied by Thomas W. Gleason, president, international Longshoremen’s Association; Murray Finley, president, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America; Robert Georgine, secretary-treasurer, Building Trades Department of the AFL-CIO; and John W. Schmitt, president, Wisconsin State Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
The delegation will meet with top Israeli government and Histadrut leaders, to ascertain the needs of the country and the role of labor in Israel’s post-Yom Kippur War economy. They will visit Histadrut hospitals, vocational schools and other institutions, as well as historic sites in Jerusalem and the frontier zones of the Golan Heights and the Suez Canal.
The group will be escorted by Uzi Bloch, American representative of the Histadrut Executive, and Gregory J. Bardacke, executive director of the American Trade Union Council for Histadrut. The delegation will report to the AFL-CIO Council meeting in Miami in Feb.
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