Thread: Labor chief touts outreaches that boost Hispanics in U.S. wo

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... o0414.html

Labor chief touts outreaches that boost Hispanics in U.S. workforce
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 14, 2007 12:00 AM

The U.S. Department of Labor is bearing down on employers who ignore safety standards and cheat "vulnerable workers" out of their wages, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said Friday in Scottsdale.

Chao, addressing more than 200 members of the National Association of Hispanic Publications at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort, said her department has recovered millions in unpaid wages and has reduced worker deaths.

The secretary painted a rosy picture of the economy but warned of the "skills gap" that leaves higher-paid jobs unfilled nationwide.

Secretary of Labor since 2001, Chao has reached out to the Hispanic community with training and enforcement programs.

She has stationed 300 bilingual inspectors across the nation to help Hispanics collect promised wages and demand safe working conditions, an enduring theme in much of the Hispanic press.

Since 2001, Chao said, her department's aggressive enforcement has reduced workplace fatalities by 7 percent.

In addition, she said last year that the department recovered nearly $172 million for more than 246,000 employees who did not receive promised wages. Many of those, Chao said, were Hispanic.

Born in Asia, Chao said in a later interview that she understands immigrants' reluctance to confront employers.

"They are afraid," she said.

An author of other Hispanic initiatives, Chao in 2004 spent more than $600,000 to study the level of English skills required by employers and an additional $2.76 million to help at-risk Latino youth in several cities.

The goal of those programs, she said at the time, was to "help Hispanic workers succeed in the workforce."

At Friday's conference, Chao plugged away at that theme, urging the Hispanic press to make "opportunities more widely known" to their readers.

Still, she praised Hispanic Americans for "making gains in their community."

The gap between the Hispanic unemployment rate and the national unemployment rate has shrunk to just 0.07 percent, down from 1.7 percent in 2000.

But she said too few people, including Hispanics, are trained to take on the highest-paying jobs in technology, medicine and other fields.

For example, Chao said, by 2014, the computer industry will need 1.3 million workers, and education, training and library occupations will have more than 3.5 million openings. In addition, America's aging population will explode the need for health care workers, she said.

"Workers will require postsecondary education to access these opportunities," Chao said. "What we are seeing is not so much a wage gap in our country, as a skills gap."

The secretary also touched on immigration, supporting President Bush's call for a temporary worker program.

During an interview after the speech, Chao said the immigration debate is a "very emotional issue.

But she criticized supporters of illegal immigration, saying they want to "keep these people in the shadows."

Several conferees said they appreciate Chao's connection to the Hispanic community.

Julia Bencomo Lobaco, a former Arizona Republic reporter and now the executive editor of the bilingual edition of the AARP magazine in Washington, D.C., said Chao "understands that we are the workforce of the future."

. In addition, America's aging population will explode the need for health care workers, she said.

As one of those.....I'll be darned if I want or trust someone working with me that won't speak English or that I'm not sure if they've been properly screened for safety and health concerns. I was shocked they were specially educating "problem" students as nurses aids. Why would I want someone who apparently wants the anglo-aging wiped off the face of the earth or have people who are wanting to take advantage of everything being set loose in my home to "help" me? People prey on the elderly as it is without an influx of people who could care less about your safety and welfare.

crazybird-I couldn't agree more. I have been "cared for" by what I believe were illegal immigrants working at the hospital I was in. They were rude, snippy, and acted like they hated their jobs. I really don't want any of them caring for me or anyone else I know.
I reported them last year to wehirealiensDOTcom.

Got that Firecracker. It takes a special person to care for people....not someone who's just able to go through the motions or are waiting for weak moment to rob you blind while your sleeping. They just busted a bunch of people for robbing people in the nursing homes here. I know they had problems with people in Florida who were scamming money out of peoples accounts that were to be used for food and such. I saw my own distant relatives start acting like vultures with my dads blind trust....let alone people who hate you and feel they are owed. They had an "anchor" baby here that drove drunk and killed I think 5 kids and she was a "problem" student in highschool who was sent to a "special" program to be trained to work with the elderly. I'm sorry....but I wouldn't want them looking after me or mine. I've worked in nursing homes before and atleast 1 was 100% viglant on cleanliness and washing and such.....but I've been in places where it's not and it's usually places that fill in the holes with people who aren't trained enough to more than just go through the motions.

Julia Bencomo Lobaco, a former Arizona Republic reporter and now the executive editor of the bilingual edition of the AARP magazine in Washington, D.C., said Chao "understands that we are the workforce of the future."

I didn't realize things were so bad that we had AARP printed in Spanish. Good Lord, does the pandering never stop