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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
17th Annual Labor Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Frances Perkins Building
Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Thank you all so much for joining us for this very special event—the 17th Induction Ceremony for the Department of Labor's Hall of Fame.
I want to welcome all of our special guests here today, including Congressman Peter King of New York.
I would also like to recognize President Mike Sacco of the Seafarers International Union; President Jim Williams of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades; President Jim Grogan of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers; and President Edward Sullivan of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.
And President Lou Coletti, of the Building Trades Employers Association in New York City, is also with us today. Thank you all for joining us.
This is the fifth time I've hosted this event, and I look forward to it every year.
Since 1988, the Labor Hall of Fame has honored Americans who have made historic contributions to improving the quality of life for working men and women in America.
34 individuals—and the rescue workers on 9/11 as a group—are memorialized in the Hall of Fame. Today, we will add two more leaders to this distinguished group.
Today's first honoree, Peter J. Brennan, is most appropriate for the Labor Hall of Fame because he was also a U.S. Secretary of Labor. He served under Presidents Nixon and Ford, from 1973 to 1975. He was also the first Labor Secretary to have an office in this building. Let me also note that Secretary Brennan was from Congressman King's district, so we're especially pleased that the Congressman could join us today.
The second inductee is General Robert Wood Johnson, whose commitment to making a difference helped create one of the world's largest private philanthropies and one of the world's best known health care products companies.
Let me begin with Peter Brennan, who also served proudly as President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. Every aspect of Peter's life was influenced by the union movement. He was born into a union family—his father was an ironworker and a member of the Teamsters Union. He became a union member himself while working as an apprentice for Local 1456 of the Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America.
Peter took up the skilled trades while attending City College of New York. And later, he married Josephine Brickely, the daughter of a longshoreman, and they raised three children together.
After serving in the Pacific aboard a submarine in World War II, Peter was elected business manager of Local 1456. Four years later, he became Director of the Maintenance Divisions of the New York Building Trades Council. And in 1957, he was elected President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York.
A lifelong, passionate advocate for workers, Peter Brennan was also known as a staunch patriot. During the Vietnam War, Peter Brennan led 100,000 construction workers and longshoreman in demonstrations in New York City in support of our troops. President Nixon recognized his commitment to workers by appointing him U.S. Secretary of Labor in 1973.
During his tenure as Secretary, Peter Brennan fought hard for adoption of new laws to protect workers' pensions. Today, the Employee Benefits Security Administration continues his work guarding workers' retirement benefits. Under Secretary Brennan's leadership, employment protections for Americans with disabilities were greatly expanded. This paved the way for the work that the Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy does today. And Secretary Brennan also reinvigorated the Federal Committee on Apprenticeship. And he helped improve minority recruitment into the skilled building trades.
After serving as Secretary of Labor, Peter Brennan returned as President of the union he loved so much. He held the position of President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York until 1992. He continued to contribute to his community through the United Fund of Greater New York, the Police Athletic League, and the United Community Funds and Councils of America. So today I am pleased to recognize Peter Brennan's distinguished record of service with induction into the Labor Hall of Fame.
With us today are members of Peter Brennan's family—his daughter, Mrs. Joan Tetro and her husband, Frank, and John Brennan, Secretary Brennan's younger brother. John followed in his big brother's footsteps when he joined the Painters Local 1456, where he later worked as its business manager for 21 years. He also served as chairman of the maintenance division of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York.
Our second honoree, General Robert Wood Johnson, is the son of one of the three founders of Johnson and Johnson, the health care products manufacturer. It was General Johnson's father, Robert Wood Johnson, who came up with the idea of manufacturing prepackaged, sterilized surgical dressings. This advance revolutionized medical operations and reduced hospital fatality rates. In the process of creating this medical revolution, Johnson and Johnson created a whole new industry.
General Robert Wood Johnson served during World War II as a brigadier general. He led the company's expansion to overseas markets—today it sells products in more than 50 nations throughout the world.
During the General's tenure, Johnson and Johnson introduced the BAND-AID adhesive bandage—one of the world's most commonly recognized brands. And under his leadership, the company helped found one of the first schools of hospital administration at Northwestern University.
The General has earned a place in the Hall of Fame because of a management philosophy that made workers one of his highest priorities. He put this into practice during the Great Depression, when he awarded all his employees bonuses—not once, but several times. And in 1937, Johnson appeared before a joint Congressional committee to testify in favor of a defined work week and a minimum weekly wage.
When other manufacturers called Johnson a philanthropist for paying the highest wages in the industry, he replied, "It is the job of modern management to give the people they employ a full sense of security growing out of accomplishment and performance, as well as a declaration of purpose."
His concerns for others and his commitment to making a difference led to the establishment of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He left virtually his entire fortune to the foundation, which today is one of the world's largest private philanthropies.
Robert Wood Johnson the Fourth, the grandson of General Johnson, is with us today. He continues the General's philanthropic work as Chairman of the Alliance for Lupus Research and as a member of the board of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
One of the foundation's major new projects is the Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative. This five-year $10 million program helps experts from other disciplines learn more about the relationship between nursing and health care quality. This project is so timely because our country faces an acute shortage of skilled nurses. So I want to thank the Foundation for its leadership on this issue.
Peter Brennan and General Robert Wood Johnson were visionaries who advanced the causes of working men and women with their dedication, ingenuity and leadership. Our nation and our workforce are stronger today because of their achievements. That is why I am so pleased today to induct them into the Labor Hall of Fame.
It is now my pleasure to welcome President Edward Malloy of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. He will represent the union that formed a great a part of Secretary Peter Brennan's life. Please join me in welcoming President Malloy.
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