ATU Shows Signs of a Pulse

It took a second Federal indictment of the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 for the International ATU to finally impose a trusteeship on the union that represents school bus drivers.

It hadn't been enough that the local's second-in-command had previously relinquished his post to gain bail after his own second indictment for labor racketeering, or that one of the bosses of the Genovese Crime Family, Matty "The Horse" Ianniello, in mid-September pleaded guilty to influencing the union's operation. That had led more than a few observers to wonder whether International ATU President Warren George understood the gravity of the situation, or would need a Federal takeover of his own union to wake up.

Mr. George was prodded from his inertia last week. It remains to be seen whether the trustees he has appointed have the skills and the will to clean up a union that has become an embarrassment to its honest members and the rest of the labor movement here.