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OPA News Release: [11/16/2006]
Contact Name: Peggy Abrahamson or David James
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676 or x7909
Release Number: 06-1965-NAT
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Inducts Alfred E. Smith and Charles R. Walgreen into Labor Hall of Fame
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today inducted the late Alfred E. Smith, former governor of New York and worker advocate, and the late Charles R. Walgreen Sr., founder of the Walgreens pharmacy chain, into the Labor Hall of Fame.
"Both Governor Al Smith and Charles Walgreen Sr. were visionaries who advanced the causes of working men and women with their dedication, ingenuity and leadership," said Secretary Chao during the 18th annual induction ceremony at the Labor Department's headquarters. "Our nation and our workforce are stronger today because of their achievements."
Al Smith was born in 1873. He grew up in New York's multiethnic Lower East Side, dropping out of school at the age of 14 to help support his family after his father died. Smith identified with the Irish Catholic community and became its leading spokesperson in the 1920s. In 1903 he was elected to the New York State Assembly, where he was vice chairman of the commission appointed to investigate factory conditions after 100 workers died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911. Smith crusaded against dangerous and unhealthy workplaces and championed corrective legislation. He became the state assembly's majority leader in 1912 and its speaker the next year.
Smith was elected governor of New York in 1918. During his term, New York strengthened workers' compensation laws, women's pensions, and protections for working children and women with the help of Frances Perkins, soon to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt's labor secretary.
Charles Rudolph Walgreen, born in 1873 near Rio, Ill., was the founder and first president of Walgreen Co., a pharmacy chain that employs nearly 200,000 workers today in more than 5,400 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico. Walgreen emphasized customer service and friendliness with innovations such as the soda fountain and, in 1920, the milkshake. These traits he combined with professionalism and a positive work environment for employees by providing opportunities for partnerships at every store, bonuses and stock offerings, and promotions from within company ranks. The company's turnover rate, then and now, remains among the lowest in the retail sector.
The Labor Hall of Fame is located in the North Plaza of the U.S. Department of Labor and is open to the public.
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