Union Leaders Assail Michell Job Figures
A furious now round in a political duel over unemployment erupted yesterday in an exchange of sharply worded state-we.nts by key labor union leaders and Labor Secretary James</br></br>AFL President George Meany accused Mitchell of ÛÏprostituting his officeÛ in a televised political speech Tuesday night by use- of ÛÏhand-picked statisticsÛ to portray * a prosperity that ÛÏdoes not exist.Û</br></br>Simultaneously, Emil Ricve, chairman of the CIO Economic Policy Committee and president of the CIO textile workers, charged that ÛÏreassurancesÛ about the unemployment picture issued by the Eisenhower Administration are ÛÏnothing more than camouflage, persiflage, and double montage.Û Secretary Mitchell filled back that the Meany and Rieve declarations were ÛÏobviously political.Û He said that in 1949 when thenÛÓPresident Harry S. Truman said three to five million ' unemployed was supportable, and the unemployment. total stood at 4,400,000, he drew no attack from the two labor leaders.</br></br>Now that unemployment stands at 2,741,000, Mitchell added, ÛÏyou could expect the leaders of organized labor to praise the programs of this Administration which helped so dramatically in reducing unemployment and bringing us peace.Û</br></br>In a related move, Democratic National Chairman Stephen A. Mitchell issued a statement protesting that President EisenhowerÛªs report on unemployment Monday night did not tell the whole story, because he failed to say that there were fewer employed in October than in September. The Democratic chairman said the figures mean that the drop in unemployment between September and October was ÛÏobviously not due to people getting jobs .. i it simply meant fewer people were seeking work.Û