U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao

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Remarks to the National Legislative Conference
of the International Association of Firefighters
Washington, D.C.
March 17, 2003

Thank you, President [Harold] Schaitberger, for your introduction and for the opportunity to join you here today. Both my Department, and your members, have benefited from the good working relationship we have with you, as well as Kevin O’Connor and Barry Kasinitz of your staff.

This is a critical time for our country, here at home and overseas. And the members of the International Association of Firefighters have been on the front lines every step of the way.

Within minutes after terrorists slammed two airplanes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, your brothers and sisters ran toward the danger to rescue thousands of innocent people trapped inside the building.

As we all know too well, many of them never returned.

We will never, ever forget them.

I visited Ground Zero just weeks after the attacks. I met with workers at the site, family members of fallen heroes, and local labor leaders—including the President of the New York City Firefighters.

I told him then, and I’ll tell you again today—thank you for your sacrifice, your courage, and your love of country. Thank you for all the work you have done to rescue and protect our nation from terrorism.

Many Americans don’t know that the work of the firefighters to prepare and protect against terror still goes on. You are part of America’s first responder network. You train continuously to deal with new kinds of dangers that we must now anticipate.

Many people find these to be frightening times. Some are filled with fear and uncertainty whenever “threat” levels are adjusted upwards.

I understand those feelings. But I wish they could be here with me today.

Because when I look out at all of you—and see your professionalism, your pride, and your courage—I know that no matter what our nation’s enemies try to throw at us, America is more than equal to the challenge!

At the U.S. Department of Labor, we have a special permanent exhibit called the “Labor Hall of Fame.” You should come by and see it some time!It has all the great labor leaders of the past, like Samuel Gompers, George Meany and Lane Kirkland.

But one thing always bothered me when I would walk through it: there was not one exhibit dedicated to rank-and-file union members.

So last year, because of the contributions that firefighters and police made on September 11^th, we inducted the first rank-and-file union members ever into the Labor Hall of Fame: the rescue workers of September 11^th.

Now, I happen to know that many of you are serving your country in other ways as well. Many of your brothers and sisters have been deployed with Reserve and National Guard units around the world.

We are really proud of those men and women—and we want to protect them as well as their jobs during the time they are away from us.

The U.S. Department of Labor has the responsibility—and the honor—for ensuring that returning Reservists and National Guard members can get their previous jobs back, with full seniority.

Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act—known as USERRA—our citizen soldiers are guaranteed reemployment in their previous job. If that is not available, they are entitled to a position with the same status, pay, and benefits. There are almost no exceptions to these requirements.

One of the most important parts of USERRA is that it protects pension rights and health benefits. For pension purposes, reemployed service members must be treated as if a break in service had not occurred. And any period of military service must be considered for vesting and benefit accrual.

We are working closely with President Schaitbarger and many other union presidents to ensure that working men and women know their USERRA rights and obligations. We’re also getting the word out to employers who want to do the right thing by our men and women in uniform.

I am asking all of you today to help us get the word out to your co-workers, your friends and family members who are called to service in defense of our country.

As you well know, one of the reasons why firefighters train extensively is to maximize safety and health. Firefighting is inherently dangerous work, and if you don’t keep focusing on safety, tragedy can occur.

That’s the philosophy we’re taking at the U.S. Department of Labor under my watch—and we have made big strides in making workers safer.

In fact, I am proud to report that 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.

This achievement coincides with a record number of partnerships between unions and the Department of Labor. Labor leaders from over two-dozen unions—including Patrick Duffy and Bill Taylor of your union—serve on advisory committees that are helping us build on this record.

Our progress in worker safety has also taken a tremendous amount of hard work and leadership. Under this Administration, the number of OSHA inspections has increased every year. Last year, for example, we conducted 37,493 inspections—a 5% increase over fiscal year 2001.

For next year, we are requesting a $13 million increase for OSHA so we can drive down injury and illness rates to even lower levels. We are also asking Congress for 55 more mine safety inspectors so we can continue to improve safety for America’s miners and energy workers.

When employers disregard their workers’ safety, we follow through with tough enforcement. When immigrant workers were injured and killed in a New York scaffolding accident, we found willful safety violations by the employer. So 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 four counts of assault.

We also worked with prosecutors to indict an Illinois 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 last year alone, my team collected an incredible $175 million in back wages.

Finally, let me touch on an issue that is becoming more and more important to workers—and that is retirement security. When a pension fund trustee steals or squanders your 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 people 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 safeguard this sacred trust between workers, employers and unions.

America’s workers are the very backbone of our economic strength and our national security. And this Administration is committed to ensuring that our workers remain the strongest, safest and best skilled in the world.

I want to thank you again for inviting me here today to share with you what the Department of Labor is doing to help workers like you.

I want to thank President Schaitberger for his leadership and patriotism.

In so many ways, all of you here are the pride of America. Let’s keep working together to make workers safer and to protect our country.

Thank you.

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