A Tale of Two Secretaries
Today is the birthday of legendary Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a Cabinet position. It’s probably good that Frances never had to see Elaine Chao’s administration. For while the two women served in the same position, Frances and Elaine could hardly be more different:
Fire Safety Awareness
- Frances once said “The continued existence of industrial hazards, both accident and health, in our great American factories is one of our oldest disgraces”. Witnessing the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, in which hundreds of workers died in a locked factory, led a young Frances to redouble her efforts to fight workplace hazards.
- Under Elaine’s watch, the Labor Department has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to worker safety. And Elaine has done nothing to require regulation of combustible dust—even after a tragic explosion in
Respect for Unions
- Frances supported workers’ rights to organize unions and bargain collectively: the National Labor Relations Act was passed during her tenure.
- Elaine, on the other hand, is hostile to unions and actively campaigned against bipartisan legislation that restores the rights of workers to freely and fairly form unions.
Finally, Elaine refuses to speak candidly about the failures of her administration—staying silent on the Crandall Canyon disaster, defying Congressional oversight, covering up MSHA failures, refusing to accept feedback, and having her spokesman issue out-of-touch statements instead of addressing legitimate criticism. Frances would be disappointed. She once said:
I promise that I will be candid about what I know. I promise to all of you who have the right to know, the whole truth so far as I can speak it. If I have been wrong, you may tell me so, for I really have no pride in judgment.
If Elaine wants to ensure a positive legacy for herself, she’d better take this idea to heart, and fast: she only has a few more months to turn things around. Unfortunately, the damage she has done to the department that Frances helped build may take much longer to undo.
