Speeches by Secretary Elaine L. Chao

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Remarks Delivered By
Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
To the 2003 Exemplary Voluntary Efforts Awards Ceremony
U.S. Department of Labor
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, February 19, 2004

Thank you, Vicki [Victoria Lipnic, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards]. I’m delighted to be here for these awards.

Let me also thank Vicki, Charles [Charles James, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Employment Standards Administration and Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)] and the entire OFCCP staff for their on-going commitment to ensuring fairness and opportunity in the workplace.

Today, we celebrate success stories from the American workplace. These awards—the EVE Award, the EPIC Award and the Secretary’s Opportunity Award—are some of the most prestigious honors recognized by the United States government through Department of Labor.

The voluntary efforts of federal contractors to ensure equal access to opportunity in America’s 21^st century workforce are something that we all know is so important to the future of our country.

The recipients of these awards represent the good that employers, employees and government can accomplish when they work together on behalf of the American workforce.

Our nation’s economic prosperity is the direct result of innovation, entrepreneurship and strong corporate citizenship that we recognize today. We recognize these qualities every year in a special ceremony.

The recipients have worked very hard to make certain their workplaces have provided employees and workers with equal access to opportunity.

At the Department, we do not forget and we work hard every day to help with new compliance assistance initiatives. And these include Web-based tools, training sessions and thousands of on-site seminars. With these tools compliance, we hope, will be made more easily understood to comply.

We are fulfilling President George W. Bush’s vision that no worker is left behind in the 21^st century workforce.

Our friends from the support organizations are being honored with EPIC Awards. And they are to be commended for their efforts to ensure that everyone has a chance at grasping the American dream.

By providing pre-apprenticeship training, language skills training, networking and educational support, your efforts really strengthen economic opportunity for disadvantaged citizens and residents of this country. These stepping-stones allow everyone to work toward career success and, ultimately what we all want: happiness and prosperity. And your voluntary efforts are a role model for others.

To all the award winners, we want to thank you. Thank you for all that you do to help the American worker. Your efforts are a model throughout the rest of the year for other EEO initiatives in the private sector and help secure equal access to opportunity.

What you do today, and every single day, has a real impact on the America we love and the vision of America that we all want to help craft.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Remarks for the 2003 Secretary of Labor’s Opportunity Award

As you know, the Secretary of Labor’s Opportunity award is given to a federal contractor that has exceeded the requirements to promote equal access to employment opportunity. This award represents the highest level of voluntary commitment to equal employment opportunity.

This year’s winner—SCANA Corporation—has successfully developed a selection system that ensures all hiring decisions are made on their company’s six core competencies.

SCANA’s Workforce Planning and Employment Department routinely analyzes existing employee skills sets and staffing levels.

And senior management uses these reports and analyses for future planning. These comprehensive workforce strategies help ensure that every employee and applicant has equal access to opportunity.

SCANA’s innovative processes and procedures are a model for other employers and organizations.

We all want to congratulation SCANA and their vision and strategic leadership are a great example to employers and contractors everywhere.

So now, please join me in giving SCANA a great round of applause.

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