Speeches by Secretary Elaine L. Chao

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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
LATINA Style 50
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, February 8, 2007

Good afternoon and thank you, Robert [Bard, President and CEO of LATINA Style].

It's a pleasure to be here this afternoon and to see so many Latinas from President George W. Bush's Administration. Jennifer Sevilla Korn, the White House Associate Director in the Office of Public Liaison, is here.

Today marks my 7th time attending this luncheon. This event highlights Latinas who are trailblazers for their communities. Congratulations! And thank you to LATINA Style for helping to make the stories of these accomplished women more widely known.

Today, diversity is more important than ever before because our country is part of a worldwide economy. Our country's diversity is a competitive advantage that should be encouraged and cherished.

I am proud to work for a leader — President George W. Bush — who has done so much to reach out and celebrate diversity in our society. As you know, the President is from Texas and has a special affection and appreciation for the Hispanic community. So it's not surprising that this Administration includes many "firsts" for the Hispanic American community.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is our nation's first Hispanic Attorney General. Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is our first Hispanic Secretary of Commerce. And former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez, is now the first Cuban American U.S. Senator. Let me also note that Anna Escobedo Cabral, the Treasurer of the United States, succeeds Rosario Marin, another Latina appointed by the President. In fact, President Bush has appointed the most Hispanic American cabinet members, and the highest number of Presidential appointees, in our nation's history.

These leaders are just a few examples of the tremendous contributions that Hispanic Americans are making to our country. And our country continues to provide unprecedented opportunity for all. The U.S. economy is one of the fastest growing and robust in the world, clocking in at 3.4 percent growth in 2006. The national unemployment rate remains a historic low of 4.6 percent. That's more than a full percentage point lower than the 5.7 percent unemployment rate of the 1990s. You can contrast this with Europe, where 2 countries-- France and Germany-- have unemployment rates near 9 percent. And long term unemployment is 3 times higher than the United States.

Our country has created 7.4 million new jobs since August 2003. That's more jobs than the entire European Union and Japan combined have created. In fact, the last Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows one million more jobs were created in the past 12 months than have previously been reported.

America's workers are the most productive of any major industrialized economy. And strong productivity translates into higher wages and higher standards of living. In 2006, real wages in the U.S. rose 1.7 percent.

As our country grows, it is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy. Two-thirds of all the new jobs being created require higher skills and more education. By definition, they pay above average wages. But workers need postsecondary education to access these opportunities.

Much has been said about income trends in our country. What we are seeing is not so much a wage gap, as a skills gap. That's a reflection of the mismatch between the new jobs being created and the skills of the workforce.

We need to get the message out to young people that they need to stay in school. Here are just a few examples of the link between earnings and education. Workers with a bachelor's degree or higher average over $1,300 per week, and have a 2.1 percent unemployment rate. Workers with an associate degree average more than $800 per week, and have an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent. Workers with a high school degree average about $700 weekly and have a 4.2 percent unemployment rate. But workers who drop out of high school average less than $500 per week and have unemployment rates of about 6.8 percent. So higher education really pays off! So there's a real difference.

The Department has created many initiatives to help traditionally underserved communities, including Hispanic Americans, access the new opportunities being created in our economy. One of those is the Hispanic Worker Training Initiative. This key program helps Hispanic American workers gain the skills required to access opportunity in rapidly growing sectors of the economy.

In addition to worker training, another key mission of the Labor Department is to ensure that workers are safe on the job and fully and fairly compensated. Since 2001, OSHA has leveraged a 7 percent increase in the number of Federal OSHA inspections into a nearly 7 percent reduction in the fatality rate. Fatalities among Hispanic workers have fallen by 18%.

This Administration has also made a special effort to target enforcement of our nation's wage and hour laws on industries that employ large numbers of vulnerable workers. As a result, the Department has recovered record back wages for workers in low-wage industries, many of whom are Hispanic. In 2006, the Department recovered nearly $172 million for over 246,000 employees who did not receive the wages they were due. This represents a 30 percent increase since 2001.

As some of you may know, our nation's labor laws can be very complex. So the Department has reached out to previously underserved communities who may not be familiar with them. Labor law materials have been translated into multiple languages, including Spanish. And in 2004, the Department sponsored the first-ever Hispanic Health and Safety Summit.

The Department remains active in Gulf Coast recovery efforts, working with media, churches and community-based organizations to help vulnerable workers. One of the organizations in the forefront of these collaborative efforts is the League of United Latin Americans Citizens, LULAC. LULAC, and other groups, work with the Department to reach out to communities in the Gulf Coast to ensure that workers are fully and fairly compensated. As you may know, the Department of Labor enforces a broad range of worker protection laws, and we do so regardless of an individual's legal status.

Let me also touch on another key issue for women, especially working women. The Department is charged with protecting and promoting the nation's retirement security. And that's of special importance to women, because they tend to live longer than men.

The Department is making a special effort to make key information about retirement security available to traditionally underserved communities. Soon, the Department will post on its website the Spanish language version of one of its most popular publications — What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan. And you can find many other bilingual publications issued by the Department that make retirement planning easier.

The Department has bilingual Benefits Advisors all over the country who directly assist workers with retirement issues. One of the responsibilities of these bilingual Benefits Advisors is to assist the Department's Women's Bureau in hosting "Women and Money" conferences for the Hispanic community.

In his State of the Union Address in January, President Bush again called upon our nation to engage in a thoughtful debate on comprehensive immigration reform. The President's plan would secure our nation's borders and hold employers accountable for the workers they hire. But the President believes that America's immigration challenges will not be solved with security measures alone. His plan also includes a temporary worker program that would address the needs of our growing economy. It will also honor our country's tradition of welcoming newcomers. People who have worked hard, supported their families, avoided crime, led responsible lives and become part of American life will be brought in out of the shadows and under the protection of our nation's laws.

Many Hispanic Americans and Hispanic American organizations are playing a key role in the immigration debate. Your input is vital to helping our country meet this challenge.

Let me also share with you news of opportunities for Hispanic Americans — and other traditionally underrepresented groups — to advance within mainstream America. In the next 10 years, 60 percent of the federal workforce will be eligible for retirement. This upcoming wave of retirements presents a tremendous opportunity for those who are interested in serving their country. There are more than 20,000 job opportunities listed on the federal employment Web site: www.USAJOBS.gov. We hope you will visit this website and help us spread the word in your community about these great opportunities available in the federal government.

Hispanic Americans have so much to be proud of. For centuries you have been making America stronger, and enriching our country with your culture, traditions and hard work. Working together, we can continue to ensure that traditionally underserved communities have access to opportunity. And we can continue to strengthen the diversity that makes our country strong.

Thank you.

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