shame on elaine
Who is Elaine Chao? Current U.S. Secretary of Labor, head of the federal agency responsible for protecting workers’ rights. What is she known for? How about the following, for starters:
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* Under her watch, MSHA cut roughly 100 safety officers from its ranks, even though mining activity from 2002 to 2006 increased by 9 percent nationally.
* Due to the severe cutbacks in staff needed to adequately inspect the nation’s 731 underground coal mines, in 2006 alone MSHA failed to conduct mine inspections required by law at 107 mines.
* Elaine’s MSHA did not impose fines on nearly 4,000 violations of federal mine safety and health laws, including a mine violation responsible for the death of a Kentucky miner.
* When President Bush proposed changes to a law guaranteeing workers overtime pay, Elaine became a mouthpiece for the proposal that, if passed, would strip 8 million workers of their overtime pay.
* While advocating for Bush’s new overtime rules, Elaine’s Labor Department gave businesses advice on how to avoid paying overtime by manipulating workers’ hourly wages and salary thresholds.
* Soon after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, instead of quickly trying to help displaced workers find new jobs, Elaine backed President Bush’s suspension of Davis-Bacon, a wage law that requires federal contractors to pay the local prevailing wage.
* It took the DOL an incredible seven years to help Cold War-era nuclear facility workers exposed to radiation. The DOL mismanaged the Rocky Flats compensation program and initially denied them the compensation and medical coverage they deserved.
* Elaine opposed closing the pay gap between federal and private sector workers, saying it would be “unwise.” Yet she remained silent when President Bush raised her own pay.
* When Congress investigated the West Virginia Sago Mine explosion that killed 12 people, top Labor Department officials refused to fully cooperate — acting assistant secretary for mine safety and health David G. Dye, along with the administrator of coal mine safety and health Ray McKinney both walked out of a January 2006 hearing by a Senate subcommittee, claiming they were “too busy with their duties to stay.”
* Diacetyl, a chemical flavoring added to many types of food, has been linked to the lung disease often called “popcorn lung.” Yet when public health officials and unions sent a letter to Elaine urging her to set a standard to protect workers from exposure, it went unanswered. OSHA neglected to do its job – shield workers from conditions that can cause physical harm or even kill them.
* According to the Department of Labor’s own Inspector General report, the High Growth Job Initiative at the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration awarded 87 percent of $271 million in grants without any competition, violating the agency’s own procedures in the process.
* Elaine’s office has high staff turnover – she’s gone through four public affairs chiefs, two deputy assistant secretaries, and four press secretaries since heading the Department of Labor.
* Elaine used taxpayer funds to line the walls of the Labor Department with 58 pictures of herself, embroider her name on lanyards and fleece blankets distributed at conferences, and hand out Elaine-themed gold-colored coins at public events.
That’s just a sampling of the many shameful tidbits documented on the website ShameOnElaine.org. Sorry about spreading more bad news folks, but this woman adversely affects millions of citizens’ lives. She needs to resign — yesterday.