Editing Elaine Chao (section)

===U.S. Secretary of Labor (2001–2009)===
[[File:Elaine Chao large.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Official Secretary of Labor photo]]

Chao was the only cabinet member in the [[George W. Bush administration]] to serve for the entirety of his eight years.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2629/2199903.html |title= Chao becomes fifth-longest-serving Secretary of Labor |work= Peace Corps Online |access-date= December 21, 2007 |archive-date= September 30, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023900/http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2629/2199903.html |url-status= live }}</ref> She was also the longest-serving Secretary of Labor since [[Frances Perkins]], who served from 1933 to 1945 under President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].<ref>{{cite web|title=US Department of Labor History|url=http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/dpt.htm|access-date=September 16, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709205219/http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/dpt.htm|archive-date=July 9, 2012}}</ref>  Chao was unanimously confirmed by the Senate for her appointment as Secretary of Labor.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chao confirmed by unanimous consent motion – January 29, 2001 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/29/chao.confirmed/ |access-date=August 5, 2023 |work=CNN |archive-date=August 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805071949/https://edition.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/29/chao.confirmed/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Of Chao's staff, [[Victoria Lipnic]], Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards Administration, later became Member, EEOC and acting chair.

In 2004, the department issued revisions of the white-collar overtime regulations under the [[Fair Labor Standards Act]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/us/labor-dept-revises-plans-to-cut-overtime-eligibility.html|title=Labor Dept. Revises Plans To Cut Overtime Eligibility|last=Greenhouse|first=Steven|date=April 21, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 27, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323191556/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/us/labor-dept-revises-plans-to-cut-overtime-eligibility.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Union disclosure requirements====
In 2002, a major West Coast ports dispute costing the U.S. economy nearly $1{{spaces}}billion daily was resolved when the Bush administration obtained a national emergency [[injunction]] against both the employers and the union under the [[Taft–Hartley Act]] for the first time since 1971.<ref>{{cite news | author1=David E. Sanger | author2=Steven Greenhouse | title=President Invokes Taft-Hartley Act to Open 29 Ports | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/us/president-invokes-taft-hartley-act-to-open-29-ports.html?pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | date=October 9, 2002 | access-date=February 15, 2017 | archive-date=March 9, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309220244/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/us/president-invokes-taft-hartley-act-to-open-29-ports.html?pagewanted=all | url-status=live }}</ref> Led by Chao, in 2003, for the first time in more than 40 years, the department updated the labor union financial disclosure regulations under the [[Landrum–Griffin Act]] of 1959, which created more extensive disclosure requirements for union-sponsored pension plans and other trusts to prevent embezzlement or other financial mismanagement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nlpc.org/2008/10/20/labor-department-issues-final-rule-union-trusts/|title=Labor Department Issues Final Rule for Union Trusts|last=Horowitz|first=Carl|date=October 20, 2008|website=National Legal & Policy Center|access-date=March 27, 2017|archive-date=March 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327171206/http://nlpc.org/2008/10/20/labor-department-issues-final-rule-union-trusts/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Response to 9/11, Hurricane Katrina====
Following the [[terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001]], Chao's Department of Labor disbursed grants to provide temporary jobs to assist in cleanup and restoration efforts in New York, as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's monitoring of health and safety of [[Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center|cleanup work]] being performed at the disaster sites including lower Manhattan. The department also provided unemployment insurance and income support to those who lost their jobs in the aftermath of September 11.<ref>{{cite web |title=Federal Response: Examples of Government Action Since September 11 (Text Only) |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/10/text/20011003.html |website=georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502075145/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/10/text/20011003.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="MassTransit"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Minock |first=Nick |date=September 11, 2021 |title='We were so innocent': Longest serving cabinet member since WWII reflects on 9/11 attacks |url=https://wjla.com/news/september-11th-20th-anniversary/we-were-so-innocent-longest-serving-cabinet-member-since-wwii-reflects-on-911-attacks |access-date=July 24, 2023 |website=WJLA |language=en |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724141124/https://wjla.com/news/september-11th-20th-anniversary/we-were-so-innocent-longest-serving-cabinet-member-since-wwii-reflects-on-911-attacks |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the 2005 hurricane season, which included hurricanes [[Hurricane Katrina|Katrina]], [[Hurricane Rita|Rita]] and [[Hurricane Wilma|Wilma]], the Labor Department disbursed nearly $380 million in grants to assist with cleanup work and provide benefits and services to those displaced by the storms. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration and other agencies deployed personnel to the region to provide safety training and uphold workers' rights. Chao set up an emergency response hotline dedicated to the Gulf Coast region for people seeking benefits and worker protection information.<ref name="MassTransit">{{cite web |title=Q&A with Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao |url=https://www.masstransitmag.com/management/article/21150166/qa-with-secretary-of-transportation-elaine-chao |website=masstransitmag.com |date=August 18, 2020 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=September 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927015250/https://www.masstransitmag.com/management/article/21150166/qa-with-secretary-of-transportation-elaine-chao |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=OSHA Steps Up to Help Workers Responding to Hurricane Katrina |url=https://www.ehstoday.com/archive/article/21908108/osha-steps-up-to-help-workers-responding-to-hurricane-katrina |website=ehstoday.com |date=September 2005 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=January 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127000024/https://www.ehstoday.com/archive/article/21908108/osha-steps-up-to-help-workers-responding-to-hurricane-katrina |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Government Accountability Office reports====
After analyzing 70,000 closed case files from 2005 to 2007, the [[Government Accountability Office]] reported that the Department's [[Wage and Hour Division]] (WHD) inadequately investigated complaints from low- and [[Minimum wage in the United States|minimum-wage]] workers alleging that employers failed to pay the [[Minimum wage in the United States|federal minimum wage]], required overtime, and failed to issue a last paycheck.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08973t.pdf |title= GAO Case Studies from Ongoing Work Show Examples in Which Wage and Hour Division Did Not Adequately Pursue Labor Violations – Statement of Gregory D. Kutz, Managing Director Forensic Audits and Special Investigations |date= July 15, 2008 |access-date= August 12, 2009 |archive-date= August 27, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090827130640/http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08973t.pdf |url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Shields|first1=Todd|last2=Jacobs|first2=Jennifer|last3=Dlouhy|first3=Jennifer|title=Transport Pick Chao Gets Conservatives' Praise, Labor Criticism|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-11-29/former-labor-secretary-chao-said-to-lead-transportation-agency|access-date=January 26, 2017|publisher=Bloomberg Politics|date=November 29, 2016|archive-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202021415/https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-11-29/former-labor-secretary-chao-said-to-lead-transportation-agency|url-status=live}}</ref> The Department of Labor responded that the GAO investigation focused on individual complaints while the department remained focused on resolving complex and multi-employee complaints; from 1997 to 2007 the annual number of employees receiving back wages as a result of DOL action almost doubled and the dollar amount of back wages paid more than doubled.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greenhouse |first=Steven |date=July 15, 2008 |title=Department Is Criticized on Disputes Over Wages |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/washington/15labor.html |access-date=July 24, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724141122/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/washington/15labor.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' echoed that Chao's department was criticized by some for "walking away from its regulatory function" but also praised by others for providing "compliance assistance" and "helping companies abide by the law" rather than "punitive enforcement that … stifles economic growth."<ref name="Fletcher" />

A 2008 [[Government Accountability Office]] report noted that the Labor Department gave Congress inaccurate numbers which understated the expense of contracting out its employees' work to private firms during Chao's tenure, which may have affected 22 employees at the department.<ref name="WashP">{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/24/AR2008112402796.html |author= Carol D. Leonnig |title= GAO Report Says Labor Department Misled Congress on Cost of Outsourcing Jobs |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= November 25, 2008 |access-date= February 4, 2012 |archive-date= November 7, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121107132732/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/24/AR2008112402796.html |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0914.pdf | title = Better Cost Assessments and Departmentwide Performance Tracking Are Needed to Effectively Manage Competitive Sourcing Program | date = November 2008 | access-date = February 4, 2012 | archive-date = May 26, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120526075630/http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0914.pdf | url-status = dead}}</ref>

====Mining regulation====
Chao and the Bush administration proposed quadrupling the fines imposed against mining corporations for mine safety breaches and sued mine operators for failing to maintain safe working conditions.<ref>{{cite news |title=White House promises mine disaster investigation |url=https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2006/01/04/white-house-promises-mine-disaster-investigation/31470923007/ |access-date=August 5, 2023 |work=Gainesville Sun |archive-date=January 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126235946/https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2006/01/04/white-house-promises-mine-disaster-investigation/31470923007/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2007 report by the department's [[Office of Inspector General]] (OIG) found that mine safety regulators did not conduct federally required inspections at more than one in seven of the country's 731 underground coal mines in 2006, and that the number of worker deaths in mining accidents more than doubled to 47 in that year.<ref name="hsu">{{cite news|last=Hsu|first=Spencer|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111602257.html|title=Report Faults Mine Safety|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=November 17, 2007|access-date=June 13, 2019|archive-date=September 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901150532/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111602257.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fletcher">{{cite news|last=Fletcher|first=Michael A.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/30/AR2008113001900.html|title=Labor Dept. Accused of Straying From Enforcement|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 1, 2008|access-date=February 4, 2012|archive-date=March 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330050055/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/30/AR2008113001900.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/2008/05-08-001-06-001.pdf|title=Underground coal mine inspection mandate not fulfilled due to resource limitations and lack of management emphasis (Report Number: 05-08-001-06-001)|date=November 16, 2007|access-date=June 13, 2019|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308144052/https://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/2008/05-08-001-06-001.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) "missed 147 inspections at 107 mines employing a total of 7,500 workers".<ref name="hsu"/>

Mining disasters in 2006 and 2007 included West Virginia's [[Sago Mine disaster|Sago Mine explosion]], which killed 12 in January 2006;<ref name="hsu"/> West Virginia's [[Aracoma Alma Mine accident|Alma Mine fire]], which killed two in January 2006;<ref name="victory">{{cite news|last=Jenkins|first=Jeff|url=http://wvmetronews.com/2013/02/05/court-victory-for-aracoma-widows/|title=Court victory for Aracoma widows|website=MetroNews|date=February 5, 2015|access-date=June 13, 2019|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308030018/https://wvmetronews.com/2013/02/05/court-victory-for-aracoma-widows/|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Darby Mine No. 1 disaster|Darby Mine No.{{spaces}}1 explosion]] in Kentucky, where five miners died in May 2006;<ref name="hsu"/> and the [[Crandall Canyon Mine|Crandall Canyon Mine collapse]] in Utah, which killed six workers and three rescuers in August 2007.<ref name="hsu"/> Immediately following the Sago mine disaster, Secretary Chao vowed to "take the necessary steps to ensure that this never happens again".<ref>{{cite web |title=White House promises mine disaster investigation |url=https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2006/01/04/white-house-promises-mine-disaster-investigation/31470923007/ |website=Gainesville Sun |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=January 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126235946/https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2006/01/04/white-house-promises-mine-disaster-investigation/31470923007/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2010, the widows of the two men killed in the Alma Mine fire sued the federal government for wrongful death, citing lack of inspections, failure to act against violations, and conflicts of interest.<ref>{{cite news|last=McCue|first=Dan|url=https://www.courthousenews.com/widows-blame-lax-fed-for-coal-mine-deaths/|title=Widows Blame Lax Fed for Coal Mine Deaths|date=May 3, 2010|access-date=June 13, 2019|archive-date=December 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228074457/https://www.courthousenews.com/widows-blame-lax-fed-for-coal-mine-deaths/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="jj140929">{{cite news|last=Jenkins|first=Jeff|url=http://wvmetronews.com/2014/09/29/settlement-approved-in-aracoma-mine-disaster/|title=Settlement approved in Aracoma mine disaster|website=MetroNews|date=September 29, 2014|access-date=June 13, 2019|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308183845/https://wvmetronews.com/2014/09/29/settlement-approved-in-aracoma-mine-disaster/|url-status=live}}</ref> "MSHA's review of the fire acknowledged significant lapses by inspectors, supervisors and district managers" at the mine but the agency did not admit liability for the negligent inspections.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arlweb.msha.gov/Fatals/2006/Aracoma/FTL06c1415.pdf|title=Report of Investigation Fatal Underground Coal Mine Fire|date=2007|access-date=June 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512203205/http://arlweb.msha.gov/Fatals/2006/Aracoma/FTL06c1415.pdf|archive-date=May 12, 2016}}</ref><ref name="MSAH_settles">{{cite news|url=https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2014/07/18/335217.htm|title=Mine Safety Agency Settles with 2 West Virginia Miners' Widows|website=Insurance Journal|date=July 18, 2014|access-date=June 13, 2019|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308045704/https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2014/07/18/335217.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, the appeals court ruled that MSHA can be held liable "when a negligent inspection results in the wrongful death of a coal miner".<ref name="MSAH_settles"/> The suit was settled in 2014; MSHA also agreed to develop a training course on preventing fires in underground mines.<ref name="jj140929"/><ref name="MSAH_settles"/>

====Workplace safety====
During her tenure, the Department of Labor achieved "record low worker injury, illness and fatality rates; record back wages recovered; [and] record monetary recoveries for workers’ pension plans".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mall |first1=Scott |title=FreightWaves Classics/Leaders: Chao broke barriers leading federal departments |url=https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsleaders-elaine-chao-broke-barriers-and-led-accomplishments |website=FreightWaves |date=May 26, 2022 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502075155/https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsleaders-elaine-chao-broke-barriers-and-led-accomplishments |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2009 internal audit appraising an [[Occupational Safety and Health Administration]] (OSHA) initiative focusing on problematic workplaces for the past six years stated that employees had failed to gather needed data, conducted uneven inspections and enforcement, and failed to discern repeat fatalities because records misspelled the companies' names or failed to notice when two subsidiaries with the same owner were involved; it also noted that after rules changes in January 2008 the number of targeted companies declined by almost half.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/01/AR2009040103939.html |title=Initiative On Worker Safety Gets Poor Marks: IG's Report Links Weak Enforcement To Job Fatalities |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 2, 2009 |access-date=February 4, 2012 |first=R. Jeffrey |last=Smith |archive-date=November 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108155803/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/01/AR2009040103939.html |url-status=live }}</ref>