Shanker, Meany Say Labor Supports Humanitarian Demands of Soviet Jews

Albert Shanker, president of the United Federation of Teachers, told a Labor Conference in Support of Soviet Jewry last night that the Soviet Union’s “anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic offensive is being pursued with increased intensity.” The labor leader declared, Soviet Jews cannot fully speak out. “We must, therefore, give voice to their grievances, we must present their case, we must serve as their spokesman,” he said. Charles S. Zimmerman, president of the Jewish Labor Committee, which sponsored the conference, said the meeting was being held as a “response to the Soviet Union’s increasingly virulent anti-Jewish campaign. Our protests are necessary. We must demand that the anti-Jewish campaign should come to an end.” Mr. Shanker declared. “The situation of Soviet Jews commands our attention not because it is part of the cold war but because human rights are involved. The case for the Soviet Jews is simple. The demands are simple. They are not political. They are humanitarian.” George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO, in a message to the conference, said the plight of Soviet Jewry is the deep concern of the 15 million American workers in the AFL-CIO. Mr. Meany stated, “Despite denials by Soviet leadership, the facts of anti-Semitism are clearly established. On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I wish to express our support of any effort which can restore even small measures of freedom to the Russian people.”