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AFL-CIO Executive Committee Meeting
Diplomat
Hotel
Miami, Florida
February 26, 2003
Good morning. Thank you, [AFL-CIO] President [John] Sweeney, for your
introduction and your invitation to join you here today. I appreciate being
with you at such a critical time for our country, both here at home and
overseas.
Our team has worked very hard over the past year to support and protect
workers, and I’d like to share some of our accomplishments with you. But
before I do, I want to acknowledge some of the things that people around this
room have also done to help workers.
I think of John Wilhelm, whose [Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees] union took it on the chin after September 11. John, you went the
extra mile for your membership—fighting to save their jobs and benefits.
You shared their pain by taking a significant pay cut.
And your union even helped members who were struggling financially to
renegotiate their car payments and other obligations.
When I see union leadership like that, it makes us want to pitch in and
help even more. That’s why the Department of Labor authorized over $100
million in National Emergency Grants to help laid-off workers in the
hospitality and travel industry.
Joe Hunt [President of the International Association of Bridge,
Structural & Ornamental Ironworkers]. I have a special understanding for
Joe’s challenges because I know what it’s like to restore trust to an
organization that has been tarnished by the misdeeds of a few.
Joe’s leadership has made the Ironworkers a proud union again. Joe
even posted the international’s LM-2 form right up on his website, for all
to see—because he’s got nothing to hide. I encourage others to do the
same.
The Ironworkers are also one of the Department of Labor’s greatest
partners in our effort to ensure worker safety. Thanks to the union, their
safety experts are working together with our OSHA inspectors to enforce the new
steel erection rule.
Jim Hoffa [President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters]. You
negotiated an excellent contract for your members who work for UPS—and
recently wrapped up a Master Freight Agreement that protects your members’
health benefits at a time when most employers are cutting back. And you did it
so smoothly and professionally that it proved once again how union
representation can benefit the workers and the company.
Mike Sacco [President of the Seafarers International Union]. As we wage
the war against terrorism, your members are sailing the vessels that get our
troops and supplies where they are needed to defend our allies and defeat our
enemies. This job is so dangerous that firearms training is required. And of
course, your union is supplying that training along with all of the other
skills our merchant mariners need to do their important work.
Finally, let me mention Andrew Stern [President of the Service Employees
International Union] and Frank Hanley [General President of the International
Union of Operating Engineers]. I can’t keep track of who has the higher
winning percentage in NLRB representation elections. You are both around the
70% mark—that is quite an achievement!
While some unions are shrinking, you continue to grow by focusing on the
fundamentals: organizing, superior training, and helping men and women make a
decent living for themselves and their families. Congratulations.
I also see others around the room who are doing a first-rate job under
difficult circumstances: Duane Woerth [President of the Air Line Pilots
Association], Terry O’Sullivan [General President of the Laborers’
International Union of North America] and Frank Hurt [President of the Bakery,
Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union]. I wish I
had enough time to talk about the great things you and others are
accomplishing. I just want you to know that we appreciate what you do for
workers and for our country.
You have a right to be proud. And I want to tell you today about some
things that I’m proud about.
I know there are some issues we may not agree on. And we may go back and
forth on how many FTE’s we have in the budget and that sort of thing.
But we are racking up a record of protecting workers that is second to
none, and I want you to know about it.
First and most importantly, workers are safer today than they have ever
been. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there has been almost an 8%
drop in job-related injuries. Manufacturing fatalities have declined by almost
10%.
All of you know about MSHA’s incredible rescue of the 9 Quecreek
miners, but you may not know that over the last year, deaths in the mining
industry fell to all-time lows. Coal mining injuries also hit historic new
lows.
The Department of Labor has worked hard to achieve these impressive
results. Every year under this Administration, the number of OSHA inspections
has gone up. Last year, we conducted 37,493 inspections—a 5% increase over
Fiscal Year 2001.
For next year, we are requesting a $13 million increase for OSHA. We
will target some of that money to improve safety protections for Hispanic
workers, who are experiencing higher-than-average fatality and injury
rates.
We are also asking Congress for 55 more mine safety inspectors at
MSHA—the majority of them for coal mines at a time when the number of coal
mines are decreasing. And we are starting a new mine safety initiative focused
on small operators—the last frontier in reducing mine illnesses and
injuries.
Our commitment to protecting workers doesn’t end with aggressive
inspections. When employers disregard their workers’ safety, we follow
through with tough enforcement.
Last year in New York City, five immigrant workers died when their
scaffold collapsed. After an investigation by OSHA revealed willful safety
violations, we worked with the U.S. Attorney and the Manhattan District
Attorney to secure criminal indictments against the contractor for 5 counts of
manslaughter and 4 counts of assault.
Another example: In Illinois, we worked with prosecutors to indict an
electrical contractor for manslaughter after the contractor’s disregard
for safety contributed to the deaths of two linemen.
At the Department of Labor, we also believe that protecting workers
means ensuring an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.
Last year, Wage and Hour enforcement reached a ten-year high. For the
first time since 1992, the total number of enforcement hours logged by our Wage
and Hour investigators went up. And in one year, my team collected an
incredible $175 million in back wages.
Vulnerable, low-wage workers are the ones who benefit most from tough
enforcement of Wage and Hour laws. Back wages for garment workers rose more
than 27%. Recoveries for agricultural workers went up more than 30%.
And it was this Department of Labor that stepped up to the
plate—and brought some of the largest lawsuits in the Department’s
history on behalf of poultry workers.
It was this Department of Labor that increased the amount
of back wages collected for Family and Medical Leave Act violations by 25%.
Finally, let me say something about retirement security. When a company
or a union official steals or squanders their workers’ pension funds,
it’s not just a theft of money—it’s a violation of the dignity
that every older person in America should have.
That’s why this Administration has made retirement security a top
priority.
In 2002, our Department indicted more than 130 businessmen, union
officials and service providers for offenses related to employee health and
pension plans—a 50% increase over the previous year. And we restored a
record $640 million to workers’ pension plans.
In next year’s budget, we have requested a 10% increase for pension
and health benefit enforcement—to guard this sacred trust between workers
and their employers and unions.
I began my remarks by highlighting some of the people in this room who
are making a real, practical difference in the lives of their members.
President George W. Bush is trying to do the same thing with his jobs and
growth plan.
We all agree that the American economy, while in its second consecutive
year of growth, is not growing as fast or as strongly as we would like.
That’s why the President has proposed a comprehensive package to boost the
economy by providing tax relief for every American who pays federal income
taxes. That includes tax relief for a significant number of your members.
According to statistics recently released by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, the median income of union members who worked full time in 2002 was
$740 a week, or about $38,480 annually. Under the President’s plan, a
family of four with an income of $40,000 would see their federal income taxes
fall by 96%—from $1,178 to just $45. A family of three with the same
income would see their taxes plummet by 33%. That’s real money to help
union families pay their bills and push the economy forward.
The cumulative effect of the President’s plan will be a stronger
economy and more jobs: $52 billion pumped into the private economy this year
alone and 1.4 million new jobs by the end of 2004. That’s a good deal for
America’s working families.
It’s just another example of the fact that this Administration and
this Department of Labor are making a real, practical difference in the lives
of workers.
We can differ on issues and policies—but today, workers are safer,
they are getting paid more fairly, and their pensions are a little more
secure—because of the work we are doing.
Thank you.
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