With state AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes leading the way, the council, representing more than 400 unions and 1 million members, is moving to build a fire wall between McLaughlin and the organization's response to the federal probe. Make it firm and make it transparent, because the organization's integrity is at stake.

McLaughlin is both an unpaid business agent for the electrical workers and an assemblyman from Queens. He was often the face of labor in the city - and an effective one, at that - until FBI agents raided the council's headquarters and McLaughlin's Assembly office, apparently in search of corruption in the awarding of the city's street- and traffic-light contracts.

He has denied wrongdoing, and many have pointed out that whatever his conduct, the council itself would likely have little to do with the municipal contracts in question. Still, having the FBI swarm the premises isn't a reputation booster. So, Hughes is setting up a "rapid response team" of council board members to communicate with the feds and to hire an outside lawyer for advice. Both McLaughlin and the AFL-CIO chiefs in Washington have signed off on the deal.

Hughes and other union leaders have enough faith in McLaughlin that they're letting him continue as president, while a top aide takes over as the council's public spokesman. That's their call. But in the sorry event that McLaughlin's troubles deepen, placing his presence at odds with the good of the organization, it's clear that, then, the interests of the workers must come first.