News In Brief

AFL-CIO chief to Hart: return 1980 labor money

A fight over union contributions to political campaigns continued Saturday as Lane Kirkland, president of the AFL-CIO, again suggested that if Sen. Gary Hart honestly considers labor's financial aid to candidates to be bad, he should return $135,000 he recieved in union contributions when he ran for the Senate in 1980.

Senator Hart has sharply criticized large campaign donations from organized labor to Walter Mondale and has charged that they threaten his independence as a candidate and, if elected, as president.

Mondale last week ordered a severing of relations with 127 labor-finance committees created to seek Mondale's support among independent groups of delegates nationally and said he would refund hundreds of thousands of dollars collected by them. Hart has charged the donations violate Federal Election Commission regulations.