New York, Nov. 17—Walter Cronkite and, as the headline writer of the New York Times describes them, “others,” have announced that they will abide by the instructions of their union and will therefore refuse to cross the picket lines set up by striking CBS technicians. The performers’ union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, hasn’t said yet what will be the effective hour when the ban begins, but it is expected at any moment.
Walter Cronkite, a man of lovely manners and a lively mind, emerges because of his prominence as the spokesman for his fellow CBS newsmen and analysts. Mr. Cronkite has been in the hospital suffering from hoarseness— and verily it is as if the entire country were temporarily asphyxiated. It is bad enough to be without Cronkite because he is in the hospital popping lozenges. It is intolerable to be without him because he, and his employers, misinterpret the law, or misunderstand the Constitution.
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