National Affairs: Right Face

The anti-Communist resolution passed at the C.I.O’s Atlantic City convention was mild enough. But it had given state C.I.O. councils the green light to crack down on local Reds. Within the last fortnight both Massachusetts and New Jersey had done so. Last week it was Wisconsin’s turn.

At a state convention in out-of-the-way Wausau, C.I.O. moderates ousted the left-wingers who had run the show since 1937. Out went party-liner Robert Buse, leader of the bloody, 33-week Allis-Chalmers strike (TIME, Nov. 11). In a bold sweep, the right-wingers captured all top offices and 15 out of 26 seats on the state council. The new president: Milwaukee’s Herman Steffes, right-wing head of U.A.W.’s Local 75 at the Seaman Body division of Nash-Kelvinator.