LABOR

Laborers International to Hold Direct Elections: The Justice Department got the union, one of the nation’s 10 largest, to agree to elect its officers by a rank-and-file vote as part of an effort to eliminate organized-crime influence. U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, in announcing a second big step in six months against labor racketeering, said the “effort to clean up labor unions that have fallen under the influence of organized crime . . . is still very much a priority.” The secret balloting this fall by its 425,000 members for general president and secretary-treasurer will be the first direct election in the 92-year history of the Laborers International Union of North America, the government said. The union represents people in construction, service and public jobs; its major strength is in the Midwest.