The Last One Standing

...The first order of business for Chao was to hire a qualified staff dedicated to advancing the president's message and vision...

...Second, Chao and the department decided to work directly with any union that wanted to discuss an issue with them...

...An immigrant herself, Chao says she identifies strongly with the American dream...

...Republicans argue that only the secret ballot makes for a truly fair choice...

...As for Elaine Chao, it appears she will remain in Bush's cabinet for the foreseeable future, as determined as ever to do battle for the president...

...Some twenty years later, she was a White House fellow during the Reagan administration...

...Despite this, Chao has been criticized for what Samuel characterizes as consulting with business rather than enforcing the law...

...Bill Samuel, national legislative director of the AFL-CIO, notes that Chao hasn't followed in the footsteps of her predecessors...

...Because of the enormous volume of lawsuits this outdated provision had generated (more than the employment discrimination statutes), its revamping is viewed as one of the largest tort reforms of the Bush administration...

...As a result of the new disclosure requirements, anyone can find out, for example, that from July 2005 to June 2006, 49 individuals employed at the national headquarters of the AFL-CIO had total compensation greater than $130,000...

...Democratic proposals call for an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25, though Samuel says the AFL-CIO would like to see a rate of $8.30 an hour adopted and indexed for inflation...

...In this sense, the department is no longer merely a regulatory body, but a contributor to job creation, since a skilled workforce is a requirement for economic success...

...This "card-check" system, favored by unions, is an alternative to workers' deciding by secret ballot whether to unionize...

...its local chapters came down on both sides...

...Maritime Security Program, which provides subsidies in return for use of ships to transport materiel and military personnel in emergencies (such as tsunami relief...

...Democrats have already seized on the second issue...

...Chao has also taken it upon herself to publicize the economy's robust performance, as well as to combat disinformation and misinformation about some of her reforms...

...the U.S...

...don't have to follow specified accounting standards...

...That's not to say that the AFL-CIO and the Labor Department can't get along at all...

...First, she saw herself as an ambassador for working people, not just unionized workers, and she saw her chief mission as the advancement of Bush's economic agenda...

...From there she earned an M.B.A...

...Both Chao and Law point out that the department under this administration has had more "health and safety partnerships" with labor unions than any previous administration...

...in 2006, 93 percent of unions met the Office of Labor-Management Standards requirements...

...As deputy administrator at the U.S...

...She also realized that the decline of organized labor necessitated a new approach: In 2005, unionized workers constituted some 12.5 percent of the workforce, and only 7.8 percent of the private-sector workforce, down from an estimated 35 percent of the overall workforce in the mid-1950s and 16.8 percent of the private-sector workforce in 1983, the first year comparable union data are available...

...In addition to reforming labor regulation, Chao has taken a new approach to the operation of the department itself, seeking ways to increase efficiency and trim bureaucracy...

...With 17,500 full-time employees and a budget of about $60 billion, Labor was the first cabinet department to get a "green" rating from the White House for sound management in all required categories, and year after year it has kept its proposed budget within OMB recommendations, which other departments routinely ignore...

...Her conservative views were no secret, but she knew many union presidents well: As president and CEO of United Way (1992-1996), she had worked closely with AFL-CIO president John Sweeney Whitney Blake is an editorial assistant at The Weekly Standard...

...Law points to this as proof that the Labor Department is not in the pocket of big business, as many unions contend, and he notes the double standard: It's "good sense" when Washington "cracks down" on corporations, but "anti-union" when Washington "expects unions to have financial integrity and be transparent...

...Even Sen...

...at Harvard, then worked in the private sector for two years, and went on to a succession of jobs in the public and nonprofit sectors: deputy administrator of the Federal Maritime Administration, chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, deputy transportation secretary, director of the Peace Corps, and president and CEO of United Way...

...Samuel cites in particular the West Coast ports crisis of 2003, in which Chao intervened to avert a prolonged strike that would have cost the economy billions of dollars, as well as the efforts of the department to ensure equal rights to back wages for immigrants, irrespective of legal status...

...According to the Office of Labor-Management Standards, which oversees unions' disclosures to the department, unions have to file only once a year, using free electronic software...

...She sees the disparity in income, often touted by labor as an indicator of an economy that benefits only the wealthy, as the result of varying education levels: Unemployment among college graduates 25 years and older is less than 2 percent, but among high school dropouts more than 6.5 percent...

...The AFL-CIO still protested the reform, claiming it gives employers new leeway to exempt workers, though Samuel concedes there is no evidence of this happening to date...

...The department also completely restructured the 1965 Older Americans Act, under which the same nine organizations had received the bulk of grants to provide services to the low-income and disabled elderly...

...The Labor Department oversees the implementation of these accounts—opposed by the AFL-CIO—which provide vouchers of up to $3,000 to workers seeking additional training in a program or at an institution of their choice...

...Not surprisingly, the AFL-CIO took issue with this initiative on grounds that it didn't go far enough—Samuel says the Labor Department should give corporations even more responsibility for employees' retirement security...

...She has been extremely supportive of the merchant marine and willing to listen on several matters, he said, including the Jones Act, which requires ships traveling domestically to be American-owned and crewed...

...are not required to retain outside oversight committees...

...According to Law, President Bush has had a much more "activist vision" for the department than previous administrations...

...reorientation of the secretary's role, from labor union representative to administration advocate...

...and have to disclose simple quantitative data, but no qualitative data (such as analysis of material risks, expected future performance, and significant legal proceedings...

...In December 2002, Chao proposed revisions to the disclosure form for large labor unions, the LM-2 form, requiring more detailed financial disclosure from the 20 percent of unions with more than $250,000 in annual receipts...

...This law, unchanged since 1975, was updated in 2004 to guarantee overtime to white-collar workers earning below $23,660, up from the previous ceiling of only $8,060...

...At the time, Chao received praise from several major unions, including the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Association of Machinists...

...By all measures, the economy is strong: Unemployment is at 4.5 percent (4.6 overall for 2006), GDP growth was at 3.3 percent in 2006, annual productivity growth has been 3 percent since the beginning of 2001, real wages increased 2.3 percent over the past year ending in November, and 1.8 million new jobs were created in 2006 (and more than 7.2 million since August 2003...

...Bush, who he says championed stronger ergonomic standards and mediated the Pittston coal strike, and Bill Brock, under Ronald Reagan, who worked closely with labor on the modernization of labor laws...

...Chao explains one principle behind the reforms this way: "We ask that labor organizations be responsive to their rank and file members...

...With a Democratic Congress now in place, two key labor issues are on the agenda—an increase in the federal minimum wage and "card check" requirements...

...Even the AFL-CIO—which had immediately objected to Chavez—indicated a willingness to work with Chao...

...While foreign policy has dominated Bush's presidency, Chao's department has been working behind the scenes to significantly reshape labor laws over which Big Labor had developed a sense of ownership...

...Under such voluntary partnerships, the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration branch (OSHA), often at the request of the union, works with employers to ensure their compliance with labor law—drug-free workplace requirements, for example, or health and safety protections for all workers including undocumented ones...

...Law, who previously served as chief of staff from 2001 to 2003 and just announced he is leaving later this month, describes how she chose a team "with a basic philosophical viewpoint," in addition to expertise in labor and proven management skills...

...In February, Bush announced the American Competitiveness Initiative, which introduced Career Advancement Accounts...

...She left Taiwan with her mother and siblings at the age of eight to join her father, who had settled in America three years before...

...Unions no longer had to filter their concerns through the AFL-CIO...

...Her longevity is due in part to her fierce loyalty to the presi dent, which has raised the ire of some in the labor movement accustomed to less assertive Republican secretaries...

...Chao hasn't been afraid to ruffle feathers and apply conservative principles in order to achieve practical, substantial results, and she has a long list of reforms—some of which had been talked about for decades—to show for it...

...As Deputy Secretary Steve Law explains, Chao adopted an "open door policy...

...Several other unions I contacted—the Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE (comprising the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union), and the Communication Workers of America—declined to comment or did not return calls...

...Chao acknowledges that our economy is "facing a skills gap" as we transition to a "knowledge-based" market...

...The Labor Department estimates this will positively benefit more than 6.7 million workers...

...House speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced her intention to bring the cleverly titled Employee Free Choice Act to the floor in early spring...

...do not have to secure a certified audit...

...and Project America, which revived deep sea cruise tourism in the wake of September 11...

...But beyond personal allegiance, Chao can boast tangible results from her effort to reform decades-old regulations in dire need of modernization...

...When Chao took office, this changed in two fundamental ways...

...Ted Kennedy supported the measure...

...Arriving without knowing a word of English, she learned to adjust, following the lead of parents who had "tremendous faith in the promise of America" and the rewards of hard work...

...Blue-collar workers are guaranteed overtime regardless of salary or job description...

...and then CWA president Morton Bahr...

...He cites comfortable working relationships with previous Republican labor secretaries including Elizabeth Dole, under George H.W...

...A spokesperson for the Seafarers International Union told me they had a good working relationship with Chao...

...In fact, labor unions have far fewer requirements than corporations covered by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, adopted in response to Enron and other business scandals...

...Chao, wife of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, was nominated by President Bush on January 11, 2001, after his original choice, Linda Chavez, came under fire over allegations that she had employed an illegal immigrant...

...Traditionally the Labor Department has served as the liaison between the unions—specifically, the AFL-CIO, which represents 54 unions and approximately 10 million workers—and the administration...

...Under Sarbanes-Oxley, corporations have to do all these things and more...

...His concept of an ownership society, in particular, affects the Labor Department, involved as it is in workforce training...

...the Washington Post quoted him as saying, "America's workers and retirees came out the winners...

...This legislation would require the independent National Labor Relations Board to certify a union whenever a majority of employees at a given location have signed cards agreeing to designate the union as their representative...

...Also, collaboration with the department in the aftermath of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina led Samuel to believe that the relationship hasn't been "totally fruitless" for the AFL-CIO...

...The reform also clarifies the categories of workers guaranteed eligibility, including police officers, firefighters, and paramedics, and protects existing union agreements on overtime...

...The Last One Standing Bush's Labor secretary is the only survivor of the original cabinet By WHiTNEy Blake The resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in December left only one cabinet member who's held her position since the beginning of the Bush administration— Labor Secretary Elaine Chao...

...A day after her nomination, a Washington Post headline read, "Chao Knows Her Way Around Labor...

...Officially, the AFL-CIO neither supported nor attacked the measure...

...She says she sees the department's main objective as "vindicating workers' rights," whether workers are being taken advantage of by corporations or unions...

...Maritime Administration (1986-1988), she had worked with Seafarers International Union president Mike Sacco...

...Steve Law notes that in the end, most unions have seen the need for these steps, attended compliance assistance seminars hosted by the department, and overwhelmingly complied...

...Another of Chao's regulatory victories was her success at reforming the confusing and ambiguous overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act...

...Samuel considers the reforms "not much more than harassment," a "huge waste of time and money," and "far in excess" of the requirements for businesses and trade associations...

...and some disciplining of the department itself through the application of stricter fiscal management to a bureaucratic behemoth...

...The new jobs being created require more skills, and are better paid, but gaining access to training is difficult and complicated...

...Chao considers it one of her department's major accomplishments to have improved labor union disclosure procedures, which hadn't been updated since the Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959...

...Over the summer, Democrats blocked a minimum wage proposal that included tax cuts introduced by Republicans, a bill Chao saw as a balanced one that wouldn't dampen job creation...

...Chao instituted competitive bidding for these contracts, and since 2002, some $340 million has been distributed annually on the basis of merit...

...Low turnover among her department heads has made for continuity in policy...

...Sustaining this rosy picture, however, requires placing a premium on increasing the supply of skilled workers...

...The AFL-CIO's Samuel regards Chao as "very hostile" to organized labor, a sentiment shared by some, but not all, union leaders...

...The changes went into effect in July 2004...

...While unions accuse Chao of appeasing big business, one major piece of legislation that was passed with little fanfare was poorly received by the corporate world: In August, President Bush signed the Pension Protection Act, a sweeping law requiring companies to meet their pension obligations and disclose information to employees about the financial state of their pension plans...

...They must file both quarterly and annual reports, as well as periodic reports for specific events, and are subject to copious other regulations...

...Union Leaders Welcome a Solid Conservative...

...Add to that a fiscal conservatism dutifully applied to the department's own bureaucracy, and it's no wonder this secretary is still "serving at the pleasure of the president...

...are audited by the department on average once every 150 years...

...but Samuel told me there is "nothing free or fair" about the NLRB...

...Her legacy so far is one of transformation: expansion of the Labor Department's role from regulation to policy implementation and reform...

...He speculates that the Labor Department wants to keep the unions busy "filling out forms" rather than representing workers...

...At first, unions bucked the call for accountability...

...White-collar workers with salaries between $23,660 and $100,000 may qualify for overtime...