AFL-CIO meeting raps Reagan economic plan

The AFL-CIO's leadership took first steps toward a possible future confrontation with the Reagan administration when it opened mid-winter meetings Monday in Bal Harbour, Fla., with criticism of the President's economic policies -- in particular budget cutbacks that would, in the view of organized labor, reduce critical services.

Meanwhile, writes Monitor labor correspondent Ed Townsend, the federation clearly indicated that it expects to rely heavily on Congress to override the White House on budget cuts and on moves to ease what labor considers to be excessive efforts to relax federal reg ulations on business and industry.