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American Morning
Interview With Elaine Chao
Aired September 01, 2003 - 07:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now on this holiday for workers, many Americans find themselves out of work. Nearly nine million people are jobless and despite some improvement in the economy unemployment remains near a nine-year high.
Reviving the nation's job market is a key ingredient in the economic agenda for President Bush, and joining us from Washington now to talk about how the administration plans to do it is Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
Thank you for joining us this morning and happy Labor Day to you Secretary Chao.
ELAINE CHAO, LABOR SECRETARY: Thank you, good morning.
HARRIS: Well, you saw that graphic that we just had up there and it paints a rather dire picture, and it's a dire situation for the nine million people who are now out of work. What do you say to them about what this administration is doing to create jobs?
CHAO: Well, first of all, I want them to know that they're not alone. We're, of course, concerned about those who are unemployed and the president has extended unemployment insurance three times. We also have a number of assistance programs that are available.
We're on a recovery, but clearly the recovery is not as strong as we would like. That's why the president fought so hard for his jobs and growth plan that he signed into law last - this past - May. And we're beginning to see the positive impact of that. The latest GDP number has been very positive. It's 3.1 percent, and it's more than what was anticipated.
Also, the initial filings for unemployment insurance has been on a downward trend in the last ten to twelve weeks alone, it's been below 400,000. So the trend lines are positive. But we're, of course, concerned about those who are out of work.
And, again, we have about 3800 local one stocks (ph). The resource centers dispersed throughout the country and we hope that those who are in a vulnerable period in their lives will tap these resource centers and they'll find job counseling, job placement, and training opportunities. Because right now there are 3.1 million jobs that are unfilled, and our challenge is to connect workers who want jobs with employers who want workers through the training and the retraining programs. HARRIS: But you mention these jobs that you say are unfilled right now, and we talk to people on a regular basis about this sort of thing, and what we keep hearing is the steady drumbeat of people saying well, you know, there may be some jobs available, but they aren't good jobs, they aren't high paying jobs.
CHAO: Oh, that's not true at all. In fact, 50 million Americans left their jobs last year voluntarily or involuntarily. 50 million Americans found new jobs. And the overall average wage rate increased about 2.5 percent. Now that's on average, so these are not - they're not getting bad jobs. They're getting, in fact, better paying jobs.
But of course we're concerned about those who are not and that's where training and retraining becomes so important. We need, our country needs, about a million nurses in the next eight years alone. I've been to Mayo Clinic; I've been to Fairfax Hospital in Virginia, talking to the healthcare workers. As our population ages, we need healthcare workers of all types. We need nurses, we need doctors, we need technicians. We even need pharmacists.
So, there are job opportunities and there, again, is where we want to have -- we want to give training opportunities and make training available and retraining available. So that people can make that transition between where they are now to where there are jobs.
HARRIS: I have to ask you this one question. We've been talking to John Sweeney, the head of the AFL-CIO --later this morning, and he made a comment and saying that you are the most anti-labor labor secretary he has ever seen and every worked with.
What does that say about your relationship with unions overall, and does that - does it mean anything to people out there, these - perhaps - some of these nine million people who are looking for jobs now?
CHAO: Well, first of all, unions only represent 13 percent of the workforce. As Secretary of Labor I represent the entire workforce. John and I have worked well in the past. He's under a lot of pressure. The unions are losing membership and there are lots of pressures on his organization.
But the truth of the matter is this administration has one of the best health and safety records, bar none. Better than any other administration we have the best health and safety record. In addition, we have recovered and protected over $800 million in worker's pensions, and we've indicted about 134 corporate CEOs and union officials for abusing workers pensions.
We also have recovered well over $100 million in over time. And in overall compensation for low wage vulnerable workers. So, our record of achievement on behalf of the American worker is very strong, and I take great pride in it.
HARRIS: Well, we thank you for stating your case this morning.
CHAO: Thank you.
HARRIS: Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, happy Labor Day to you.
CHAO: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 1, 2003 - 07:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now on this holiday for workers, many Americans find themselves out of work. Nearly nine million people are jobless and despite some improvement in the economy unemployment remains near a nine-year high.
Reviving the nation's job market is a key ingredient in the economic agenda for President Bush, and joining us from Washington now to talk about how the administration plans to do it is Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
Thank you for joining us this morning and happy Labor Day to you Secretary Chao.
ELAINE CHAO, LABOR SECRETARY: Thank you, good morning.
HARRIS: Well, you saw that graphic that we just had up there and it paints a rather dire picture, and it's a dire situation for the nine million people who are now out of work. What do you say to them about what this administration is doing to create jobs?
CHAO: Well, first of all, I want them to know that they're not alone. We're, of course, concerned about those who are unemployed and the president has extended unemployment insurance three times. We also have a number of assistance programs that are available.
We're on a recovery, but clearly the recovery is not as strong as we would like. That's why the president fought so hard for his jobs and growth plan that he signed into law last - this past - May. And we're beginning to see the positive impact of that. The latest GDP number has been very positive. It's 3.1 percent, and it's more than what was anticipated.
Also, the initial filings for unemployment insurance has been on a downward trend in the last ten to twelve weeks alone, it's been below 400,000. So the trend lines are positive. But we're, of course, concerned about those who are out of work.
And, again, we have about 3800 local one stocks (ph). The resource centers dispersed throughout the country and we hope that those who are in a vulnerable period in their lives will tap these resource centers and they'll find job counseling, job placement, and training opportunities. Because right now there are 3.1 million jobs that are unfilled, and our challenge is to connect workers who want jobs with employers who want workers through the training and the retraining programs. HARRIS: But you mention these jobs that you say are unfilled right now, and we talk to people on a regular basis about this sort of thing, and what we keep hearing is the steady drumbeat of people saying well, you know, there may be some jobs available, but they aren't good jobs, they aren't high paying jobs.
CHAO: Oh, that's not true at all. In fact, 50 million Americans left their jobs last year voluntarily or involuntarily. 50 million Americans found new jobs. And the overall average wage rate increased about 2.5 percent. Now that's on average, so these are not - they're not getting bad jobs. They're getting, in fact, better paying jobs.
But of course we're concerned about those who are not and that's where training and retraining becomes so important. We need, our country needs, about a million nurses in the next eight years alone. I've been to Mayo Clinic; I've been to Fairfax Hospital in Virginia, talking to the healthcare workers. As our population ages, we need healthcare workers of all types. We need nurses, we need doctors, we need technicians. We even need pharmacists.
So, there are job opportunities and there, again, is where we want to have -- we want to give training opportunities and make training available and retraining available. So that people can make that transition between where they are now to where there are jobs.
HARRIS: I have to ask you this one question. We've been talking to John Sweeney, the head of the AFL-CIO --later this morning, and he made a comment and saying that you are the most anti-labor labor secretary he has ever seen and every worked with.
What does that say about your relationship with unions overall, and does that - does it mean anything to people out there, these - perhaps - some of these nine million people who are looking for jobs now?
CHAO: Well, first of all, unions only represent 13 percent of the workforce. As Secretary of Labor I represent the entire workforce. John and I have worked well in the past. He's under a lot of pressure. The unions are losing membership and there are lots of pressures on his organization.
But the truth of the matter is this administration has one of the best health and safety records, bar none. Better than any other administration we have the best health and safety record. In addition, we have recovered and protected over $800 million in worker's pensions, and we've indicted about 134 corporate CEOs and union officials for abusing workers pensions.
We also have recovered well over $100 million in over time. And in overall compensation for low wage vulnerable workers. So, our record of achievement on behalf of the American worker is very strong, and I take great pride in it.
HARRIS: Well, we thank you for stating your case this morning.
CHAO: Thank you.
HARRIS: Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, happy Labor Day to you.
CHAO: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
