OCR Text |
Show V LABOR INTENSIFIES WAR ON REAGANOMICS While organized labor has been far from convinced that President Reagan's domestic policies are favorable for the nation's workers, President Lane Kirkland of the AFL-CIO AFL-CIO has recently stepped up the battle against the Administration with fresh determination. It is obvious, too, that the rank and file are closing in behind him in the drive to change the direction the economy has been taking under the leadership of the present government. Stirring labor to its sharpest attacks thus far was the most recent report of the jobless rate for the country as a whole. For the month of April, unemployment reached the highest point seen since the 9.9 percent annual average registered for 1941 at the conclusion con-clusion of the Great Depression. The Bureau of Labor Statistics began to record statistics for joblessness on a monthly basis in 1947, so the 1941 yearly figure has been used by the Federation to press its case. HOW THE STATISTICS LINE UP The jobless rate for April 1982, a reflection of the 10,307,000 without employment, stood at 9.4 percent, showing an increase from the preceding month of 0.4 percent. Pointing Poin-ting to this dramatic situation, President Presi-dent Kirkland called upon Congress to toss out Reagan's economic policies and give its complete attention to enacting enac-ting a new program with the object of making the creation of jobs the nation's top priority. Terming current policies "the New Hooverism," Kirkland warned warn-ed that unless moves are made without hesitation, we will certainly slide into another depression. He pointed out that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported an increase in-crease of 2.5 million unemployed workers since last July when most business appraisers agree that our eighth recession since the end of World War II began. This indicates that in less than a year the national unemployment rate has climbed better than two percentage points, from 7.2 percent to 9.4 percent. Kirkland blames this runaway in joblessness on Reaganomics. He is trying try-ing to sway his rank and file by claiming that instead of the recovery the Reagan Administration promised, we now have the worst recession in 40 years. Kirkland has been taking special aim at President Reagan's "supply side" economic advisers, asserting that they are quacks who believe that you can cure a patient of all ills by bleeding him to death. In addition, he is attempting to convince the country's workers that the true unemployment rate is much higher than that released by the Bureau. He calls for counting in the numerous "discouraged" men and women who have given up seeking openings, plus those employed parttime because full-time full-time positions are not to be found. UNEMPLOYMENT'S POLITICAL IMPACT There is no question that the job situation is bad, and that every day more employes and their families are becoming more uneasy about the underlying success or failure of Reaganomics. True, the Chief Executive Ex-ecutive still has an amazing degree of personal popularity, a fact that makes it more difficult for his opponents in their drive to reduce his political force. But today's employment figures alone are probably the strongest single foe that he has. A Bureau official has spoken before the congressional Joint Economic Committee, Com-mittee, and has admitted that this past April saw few signals of the usual seasonal improvements in the work situation. Even the expectable pickup in outdoor work and summer pursuits in the commerical and trade fields has simply not emerged. BAD FOR THE INCUMBENTS With factory and service workers still on the decline, political incumbents at all levels are suspect, especially those with closest ties to the Administration. Repercussions at the polls this November may be bitter for many "ins" if jobless rates stay high. |