"In Focus" items are up-to-the-minute news about the Secretary of
Labor's efforts to strengthen the workforce and the business community.
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December 16, 2004 Secretary Chao moderated a panel at the White
House Conference on the Economy focusing on preparing workers for jobs in the
21st Century. The panel analyzed how to ensure that American workers have the
education and skills to fill the jobs our evolving economy is creating and how
to keep America competitive in an increasingly global economy.
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December
10, 2004 Speaking at the Conference on Trafficking in Persons in North
America, Secretary Chao outlined the
international scope of human trafficking and the Department's efforts to combat
it. "The evil of trafficking in human beings must be stopped," Chao said. "The
worldwide incidence of men, women and children being enslaved demands a
vigorous and sustained international effort to rescue victims and protect
future generations."
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November 10, 2004 Secretary Chao praised America's veterans for
serving with courage and honor throughout America's history, including in the
current War on Terror, in a ceremony at the Frances Perkins Building in
observance of this weeks commemoration of Veterans Day. The theme of this
year's Veterans Day celebration was "Recognizing the Value Veterans Bring to
the Workforce." "A wartime Veterans Day is an especially poignant
occasion," said Secretary Chao." Today we honor all who have served and pay
tribute to the brave men and women who at this very moment are fighting for
America and freedom around the world."
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November 5, 2004 Secretary Chao heard compelling testimonies from
widows who have benefited from the Steve Young Memorial Scholarship program,
which helps the spouses and families of police officers killed in the line of
duty carry on with their lives. The Department of Labor announced initial
funding for the scholarship program, administered by the National Fraternal
Order of Police Foundation, in 2002. Secretary Chao joined Fraternal Order of
Police National President, Chuck Canterbury, at a meeting at FOP Lodge #91 in
Allegheny County. "This scholarship fund helps the families of fallen
officers whose courage and dedication saved the lives of others in their
communities," Secretary Chao said. "We as a nation are grateful for their
immeasurable sacrifices, and the Department of Labor is pleased to help honor
their memories by providing an additional $1 million to this very special fund
to benefit their families."
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October 29, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a grant of nearly $2.2
million for the St. Louis Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program (CJAP) to
train and certify workers for jobs in the construction industry and related
fields. The grant is part of the President's High Growth Job Training
Initiative which is helping workers find and prepare for jobs in America's
fastest growing industries.
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October 26, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a National Emergency
Grant of $10.4 million to assist workers in Pennsylvania who lost their jobs
due to recent hurricane-related flooding. "The President and I want to do
everything we can to help Pennsylvania workers affected by recent
hurricane-related flooding get back on their feet," said Secretary Chao. "This
$10.4 million grant will create nearly 700 jobs for unemployed workers to aid
with disaster clean-up and help restore and rebuild the communities in
Pennsylvania that have been impacted by these storms."
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October 21, 2004 Secretary Chao posed with Douglas McCarron,
International President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America and Bob Terreri, N.J. State Council of United Brotherhood of Carpenters
at the 2004 Labor Hall of Fame Induction in Washington on October 13. Terreri
accepted the Hall of Fame Award on behalf of Peter McGuire, with McCarron
presenting the induction of McGuire into the Labor Hall of Fame.
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October 14, 2004 Secretary Chao hosted the 2004 Opportunity
Conference for Asian Pacific and Hispanic Americans in Washington on Oct. 12.
The full-day conference was designed to serve these two fastest-growing
segments of the 21st century workforce and inform small business owners,
non-profit and faith based organizations and community leaders about the many
opportunities available to them.
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October 1, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a $1 million grant to
continue the Department of Labor's commitment to the Youth Employment and
Development Initiative (YEDI), the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative's employment
program. YEDI prepares youngsters, age 14-22, for self-sufficiency through
training, support and job experience. YEDI coordinates youth training and
employment activities among the Citizens' Committee on Youth and the Urban
League of Greater Cincinnati.
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September 28,
2004 Secretary Chao announced a $9
million demonstration project for states interested in Personal Reemployment
Accounts (PRAs) that will help unemployed workers find new jobs. Personal
Reemployment Accounts are personally managed funds that eligible unemployed
workers use to purchase job training and supportive services and products from
either the marketplace or public One-Stop Career Centers.
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September 23, 2004 Secretary Chao was joined by U.S. Secretary of
Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi, Under Secretary of Defense David S.C. Chu
and representatives from The Home Depot today to announce a joint public and
private sector agreement to provide employment opportunities for current and
former members of the U.S. military.
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September 7, 2004 The
Overtime Security Rules that became effective on August 23rd guarantee and
strengthen overtime protections for millions of workers. The U.S. Department of
Labor has been conducting unprecedented outreach to ensure workers know their
rights and employers know their responsibilities under these rules.
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September 6, 2004 DOL
announces the release of a new report, Americas Dynamic
Workforce, which surveys the state of Americas workforce, the
changing nature of the workforce and the new opportunities that are developing
in the 21st Century. The report highlights ways to improve the
nations job training programs to help more workers acquire in-demand
skills.
"Americas
workforce is the most productive and dynamic in the world," said
Secretary Chao.
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August 24, 2004 The Fraternal
Order of Police (F.O.P.) in Warren, Mich., welcomed Secretary Chao's remarks about the new overtime
reforms which took effect on Monday, Aug. 23. Secretary Chao told the group
that the new Overtime Security Rule will guarantee that more police, other
first responders and millions of hard-working Americans receive overtime pay
for their work. "For the first time in history, the overtime rights of law
enforcement officers on the front lines and firefighters, paramedics,
emergency medical technicians and public safety employees are
strengthened," said Secretary Chao. "With these new rules, workers will clearly
know their rights, employers will know their responsibilities and the
Department can more vigorously enforce the law. This Administration
which has set new records for aggressive Wage and Hour enforcement will
have strong new standards in place to better protect workers pay."
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August 20, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a National Emergency
Grant of up to $50 million with an initial release of $16,500,000
to hire approximately 3,630 workers to help Florida recover from Hurricane
Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie. While in Florida, Secretary Chao also
surveyed the impacted areas.
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August 18, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a $10 million grant to
Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) to help ex-offenders ages 18 to 34 make a
successful transition to community life and long-term employment. The grant was
announced at Abyssinia Missionary Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., and
benefit former offenders in Jacksonville and 13 other cities nationwide. The
grant is part of a $54.6 million effort to assist returning inmates and their
families.
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August 11, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a $3.1 million grant to
the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (SWO) Tribe to provide employment and training
services to Native Americans who are at risk of becoming involved with the
criminal justice system or are ex-offenders. "This $3.1 million grant to
the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe will help these young Native Americans get
the training they need for good-paying jobs," said Secretary Chao. "This grant
will provide tools and mentoring so these young people can transition into
stable employment and develop valuable career skills. Some of the programs they
can access through the grant include adult basic education and GED training,
occupational skills training in the construction trades, alternative
sentencing, community service, tutoring, intensive case management and
after-care services."
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August 2, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a $2.76 million grant to
help at-risk Hispanic youth in Orlando and four other cities across the
country. "Today I am pleased to announce a $2.76 million grant to Esperanza USA
to help at-risk Hispanic youths get training to find good-paying jobs," said
Secretary Chao. "Esperanza USA will partner with faith-based and community
groups here in Orlando and other cities across the country and provide access
to training and employment services to help these young people build job
skills."
While in Orlando,
Secretary Chao also addressed the first-ever Hispanic Safety and Health Summit,
discussing the Bush Administration's committment to further improve health and
safety in the workplace.
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July 28, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a $9.2 million grant to
the National Urban League to assist inner-city African American youth.
"This $9.2 million
grant to the National Urban League will help at-risk, out-of-school youth
access training so they can find good-paying jobs," Secretary Chao said.
The programs funded by this grant will provide tutoring, literacy
training, work experience, adult mentoring, employment opportunities and
career-planning services that can help prepare these young people for a bright
future.
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July 21, 2004 Secretary Chao and the Secretary for Foreign
Affairs of Mexico, Luis Ernesto Derbez, signed a Joint Declaration that
reaffirms the shared commitment of the United States and Mexico to improve
compliance with and awareness of workplace laws and regulations protecting
Hispanic workers in the United States.
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July 20, 2004 Secretary Chao released the following statement on
the June state and regional employment data released today: "Our nation has
experienced 10 straight months of job growth, with 1.5 million Americans
finding good new jobs. Todays news shows that the unemployment rate has
declined in 4 regions and in 47 states and nonfarm payroll employment rose in
41 states just in the past month. This continuing positive economic news
demonstrates that the Presidents sound policies are strengthening the
economy for America's workers."
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July 19, 2004 The annual
national Workforce Innovations 2004 Conference, the nation's premier workforce
investment conference, began today in San Antonio, Texas. More than 2,200
business and education leaders, workforce investment professionals, and
federal, state and local officials from across America plan to attend the
three-day conference.
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July 16, 2004 Secretary Chao and
Secretary
of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta presented a special tribute to Dr. John
B. Tsu, immediate past chairman emeritus of the International Leadership
Foundation (ILF), during todays ILF annual Awards Dinner in
Washington.
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June 30, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a $5 million grant to
Forsyth Technical Community College, partnering with four other community
colleges around the nation, to develop curricula and training models for
biotechnology workers. The grant, announced at Piedmont Triad Research Park in
Winston-Salem, is part of a $17.2 million national effort developed under the
President's High Growth Job Training Initiative to address workforce challenges
facing the biotech industry.
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June 17, 2004 Secretary Chao met with the Advisory Council of
Employee Welfare and Pension Plans to welcome the Councils new members
and discuss ways to improve the retirement security and health coverage of
Americas workers. "The years Advisory Councils members will
be a source of unique insights into a variety of issues facing pension, health
and other benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act,"
Secretary Chao said.
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June 3, 2004 Secretary Chao announced the launch of a $17.2
million national Biotechnology Worker Training Initiative as part of the
Presidents High Growth Job Training Initiative. "This $17.2 million in
training funds will recruit and train workers for jobs in the biotechnology
field, which is expected to be one of the fastest growing sectors by 2012,"
said Secretary Chao. This announcement was made at an event highlighting a $2.4
million award to Pennsylvania-based Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse.
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June 2, 2004 Secretary Chao delivered the commencement address
to the graduates at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.
Secretary Chao also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the
university presented by Professor William F. Fox, Dean of the Columbus School
of Law, and by the Very Rev. David M. O'Connell, C.M., President of the
Catholic University of America.
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May 26, 2004 Secretary Chao traveled to Minneapolis to join
with the Fraternal Order of Police (F.O.P.) National Trustee for Minnesota,
Chuck Schauss, and Minnesota F.O.P. State President, Gary Cayo, to highlight
how the Department of Labors new overtime security rules strengthen and
expand overtime rights for police and other first responders.
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May 18, 2004 Secretary Chao launched "Getting It Right
Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities" a nationwide campaign to improve
workers health and retirement security by educating employers and service
providers about their fiduciary responsibilities under the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA). Under the leadership of Secretary Chao, the
Department of Labor has established compliance assistance efforts and this is
the latest in a series of these initiatives by the Departments
Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).
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May 11, 2004 Secretary Chao was joined by the Office of
Personnel Management and five new departmental partners in hosting the third
annual Asian Pacific American (APA) Federal Career Advancement Summit on May
10. "This Summit with its many interactive workshops, mentoring sessions, and
panel discussions is meant to reach out and help Asian Pacific Americans gain
additional skills to advance to leadership positions within the federal
government," said Secretary Chao.
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April 30, 2004 Secretary Chao named a new Overtime Security Task
Force within the Wage and Hour division of the Department of Labor to maximize
protection of workers pay rights under new Overtime Security rules.
Secretary Chao charged them to help workers and employers know the facts about
these rules and not be misled by misinformation. Secretary Chao also met with
Fraternal Order of Police officials, explaining the new overtime protections
for police, fire & rescue, and nurses.
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April 20, 2004 Secretary Chao announced the final rules
governing overtime eligibility for "white-collar" workers under the Fair Labor
Standards Act on April 20. The regulations had not been substantially updated
for over 50 years, creating confusion for workers and employers, generating
wasteful class action litigation, and failing to effectively protect
workers pay rights. "Today, workers win. The Departments new
rules guarantee and strengthen overtime rights for more American workers than
ever before," said Secretary Chao.
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April 8, 2004 With a shortage
of workers expected over the next ten years in many of the skilled trades,
Secretary Chao was joined by a diverse group
of partners from organized labor and industry on April 6 to announce the
"Skills to Build Americas Future" initiative. This initiative is a
nationwide outreach and education effort designed to attract young people and
transitioning workers to careers in the skilled trades and to address the
growing need for workers in America's construction industry.
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April 5, 2004 Secretary Chao announced a National Hispanic
Worker Initiative and awarded the first grant of almost $1.9 million to the
Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (H.E.R.E) International Union on March
16. H.E.R.E will use the grant to train Hispanic and other immigrant workers
for hospitality industry jobs in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J.
Read the news
releases:
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March 25, 2004 Secretary Chao was honored by the National
Fraternal Order of Police (F.O.P.) with the Presidents Award at the
National FOP Spring Board Meeting in Philadelphia, Penn., on March 19. F.O.P
National President Chuck Canterbury presented the award to Secretary Chao.
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March 19, 2004 As part of
the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative,
Secretary Chao announced a new national Health
Care Initiative worth $24.4 million to address critical worker shortages in the
industry on March 12 in Baltimore. The kick-off event was held at The Johns
Hopkins Hospital to announce the Department's first two grants $3
million to The Johns Hopkins Health System and $1.5 million to the state of
Maryland.
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March 12, 2004
President
George W. Bush joined by Secretary Chao
addressed more than 1,000 businesswomen at the Womens Entrepreneurship in
the 21st Century Summit in Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday. The event offered
participants insights from entrepreneurs and executives on the challenges that
female business owners face, including access to affordable healthcare and
strategies for starting and growing a successful business.
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March 5, 2004 Secretary Chao announced more than $18.1 million
in aid to help up to 1,630 trade-certified workers in Pennsylvania find new
jobs. "The President and I are committed to getting help to these workers as
quickly as possible," Chao said. "This $18.1 million in aid will help provide
unemployment benefits, training and employment services, childcare expenses,
transportation and relocation expenses and subsidize health care insurance
costs so they can transition to new jobs and opportunities."
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March 1, 2004 Secretary Chao addressed the American Enterprise Institute's
conference, "Advantages of High Productivity Growth," on February 25 in
Washington, D.C. In her speech, "The Benefits of Increased Productivity Growth
for Workers," Secretary Chao told the conference participants that
"productivity growth, even with its challenges, pays dividends for workers."
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February 23, 2004 Secretary Chao, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, Commerce
Secretary Don Evans, and SBA Administrator Hector Barreto visited workers and
employers in Oregon and Washington state on their second "Jobs & Growth
Tour" February 17 and 18. They promoted the President's Jobs & Growth Plan,
as well as other efforts by President Bush to create jobs, strengthen the
economic recovery, increase workers standards of living and highlight
training as part of the 21st Century Job Initiative.
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February 13, 2004 Secretary Chao hosted Bob Nardelli, Chairman, President, and
CEO of Home Depot; and Bill Novelli, CEO of AARP, on February 6 as Home Depot
and AARP announced a national partnership to attract, motivate and retain
eligible older workers. AARP is a recipient of DOL grants under the Older
Americans Act. DOL and Home Depot began a national hiring partnership in June
2002. More than 12,000 people have been hired through this agreement so
far.
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February 4,
2004 Secretary Chao traveled to Iraq on behalf of
the Bush Administration on January 28th and 29th. The Secretary's two-day
official trip highlighted the democratization efforts underway in Iraq. As she
began her trip, Secretary Chao said, The Iraqi people have displayed
great courage and determination in their efforts to build a peaceful and
democratic nation after years of brutal oppression under Saddam Hussein. We
look forward to visiting Iraq to see first hand the progress they have made and
to work with them to strengthen the countrys economic security."
Read the news releases:
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January 26, 2004 In
congressional testimony January 20, Secretary Chao
debunked a number of myths, distortions, and inaccuracies about the
Departments proposal to update the nations overtime regulations for
white-collar workers. Secretary Chao said the proposal will "strengthen
overtime protections for millions of low-wage and middle-class workers and
empower workers to understand and insist on their overtime rights."
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January 20, 2004 Secretary Chao met with workers, employers, and educators at
Husson College on January 14 to discuss the strengthening economy and how DOL's
new High Growth Job Training Initiative can help workers find and prepare for
good jobs in growing industries.
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January 16, 2004 On Monday we
remember the life and work of an extraordinary American visionary and leader,
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King dedicated his life to ensuring that all
Americans would have an equal chance to succeed and reach their full potential.
His vivid words and ringing oratory continue to inspire generations of
Americans to recommit themselves to the ideals of justice, equality, and
opportunity. As we celebrate this holiday, the ideals that Dr. King championed
hold special meaning for all of us who work to secure a brighter future for
Americas workers.
Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao |
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January 9, 2004
Secretary Chao met with children who have been the victims
of child trafficking at the Kokrobite primary school outside of Accra, Ghana,
on December 20. The Secretary heard first-hand the stories of abuse and
suffering that students at the school endured.
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January 5,
2004 Secretary Chao met with former child soldiers
and toured a home for demobilized child soldiers run by the Belgian Red Cross
in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on December 18. The tour was
part of Secretary Chaos four-day visit to Africa to highlight the
continuing efforts to end the worst forms of child labor including using
children as soldiers and trafficking in children and to promote programs
in the workplace to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
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