August 1, 1981

Federal air traffic controllers threatened today to begin a nationwide strike Monday morning if the Government does not offer an acceptable new contract. They demanded benefits beyond those in a $40 million package worked out in June and then rejected by union members. Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis said it was ''unfair and unreasonable'' to give the Government just three days to meet the new demands. He asked for a week's postponement of the deadline for the threatened walkout, which would be illegal under Federal laws in any case.

Poland's Prime Minister shuffled his Cabinet today, dropping his deputy, who was in charge of economic affairs, and naming two more generals to Cabinet posts. At the same time, Parliament enacted a law to preserve and govern press and cultural freedoms achieved over the last year during nationwide labor and social unrest. Shortly before the nearly unanimous vote on the bill, about 300 workers in overalls and hard hats demonstrated at the doorway of the white stone Parliament building, demanding higher monthly meat rations. Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski's Cabinet shakeup, which had been expected, was partly explained by a recent decision to separate Government and Communist Party responsibilities.

Amid growing controversy, an American director is preparing a production of a passion play, the first to be staged in Israel for large audiences. Traditionally, Jews have viewed passion plays, which depict the last days in the life of Jesus, as anti-Semitic because they tend to blame Jews for the death of Jesus. The Passion Play of Oberammergau, in West Germany, staged at mostly 10-year intervals since 1643, was rewritten last year to remove anti-Semitic references. The Passion Play of Jerusalem, as it is called, will open Sunday and is intended for Christian pilgrims. Francisco de Araujo, a director who has founded several choral societies in Washington, is staging the production on the grounds of St. Pierre in Gallicantu, a church on the slopes of Mount Zion.

The House voted today, 404 to 20, to preserve the Social Security minimum benefit for the two million retired people it now protects, rejecting President Reagan's recommendation that the floor be abolished. The legislation went to the Senate, where action was put off until Congress returns from its summer recess in September. A number of senators of both parties favor retaining the minimum benefit, but the House bill may be pigeonholed in favor of broader action. Although Congress has expressed general disapproval of Mr. Reagan's proposals to reduce Social Security benefits in several symbolic votes, this was the first time either house had defeated one of the Administration's measures outright.

Seven weeks after it started, baseball's longest strike ended shortly before 6 A.M. yesterday, and the major league teams and players immediately began preparing to resume the season with the All-Star Game Aug. 9 in Cleveland. Negotiators for the two sides not only settled their differences over free-agent compensation, the issue that forced the work stoppage, but also lengthened their collective bargaining agreement to insure an additional year of labor peace. The strike, which began June 12, cost the players an estimated $28 million in salaries. Based on average ticket prices and concession sales, the clubs' losses for the 713 canceled games would be about $116 million. But the teams had strike insurance, which will pay benefits totaling $44 million, leaving a net of $72 million in lost revenue.