Just a Few Polite Questions

Whenever Dave Beck wants anything, he goes after it. That is how he became a top man in the A.F.L. Teamsters (membership: 1,000,000), and labor overlord of the West. Last week, Beck showed how he was going after up to 2,000,000 new members for the A.F.L.'s biggest union.

Next month, Dave Beck's agents will begin descending on drivers of the nation's 6,000,000 trucks, wherever they stop--for a cup of coffee, to weigh-in or unload cargoes, at bridges, tunnels or gas stations. Beck's boys will ask to see their union credentials. Drivers that have them will be allowed to grind on. Those that do not will be neatly listed in Beck's books. Later, Teamster organizers will campaign among non-union drivers, pay calls on their employers, persuade them to sign contracts with the mighty Teamsters.

Smaller checks are not unknown in the West, but this will be the first nationwide nose count, extending even to Canada. Over-the-road and other heavy duty truck drivers will come first. Later checks would tap cabbies, milk drivers and other workers in the domain ("everything on wheels") that Beck covets. Major target is the lush crop of unorganized truckers carting perishables from the South.

What if the truckers didn't want to be interviewed? Beck didn't foresee any trouble. The Teamster census takers have all been instructed to be very "courteous."

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