Business Lobbyists Yearn For The Days When Elaine Chao Ran The Labor Department

[Omaha Steve]

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/01/04/missing-elaine-chao/

With the calendar turning to 2010, the Associated Press took a look back at the first year of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis’ tenure, pointing out that “her aggressive moves to boost enforcement and crack down on businesses that violate workplace safety rules have sent employers scrambling to make sure they are following the rules.”

In many ways, Solis has completely reversed the course of the Labor Department that was set by her predecessor, Elaine Chao. And Solis’ crackdown has business lobbyists yearning for the days when Chao ran the show:

“Our members are concerned that the department is shifting its focus from compliance assistance back to more of the ‘gotcha’ or aggressive enforcement first approach,” said Karen Harned, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business’ small business legal center…Chao has claimed that success was the result of cooperating with businesses to help them understand the myriad regulations. Keith Smith, a spokesman for the National Association of Manufacturers, said his members “want to build upon progress and recognize what’s working.”



Of course, what worked for big business didn’t work at all for workers, as Chao’s Labor Department spent eight years “walking away from its regulatory function across a range of issues, including wage and hour law and workplace safety.”

Consider some of Chao’s legacy. The Government Accountability Office found that her Department “did an inadequate job of investigating complaints by low-wage workers who alleged that their employers were stiffing them for overtime, or failing to pay the minimum wage.” In one survey, 68 percent of low-income workers reported a pay violation in the previous week alone.

FULL story at link.

[hedgehog]

1. Omaha Steve - you need to post this over in GD-P!

It more "under the radar" work by Obama!

[SharonAnn]

2. Thank goodness we're rid of Elaine Chao. She did more damage than many better known officials.

[alstephenson]

3. And she's Mitch McConnell's wife.

Don't forget that.