Labor Secretary tries to strike a balance
Elaine L. Chao is such a shrewd choice for the Labor Secretary's slot, you have to wonder why George W. Bush didn't pick her the first time.
If it's diversity you want, Chao, 47, who emigrated from Taiwan at age 8, would be the first Asian-American woman in the Cabinet. Need a strong conservative? How about an alumna of the Reagan and Bush administrations, and a Heritage Foundation distinguished fellow who regularly speaks out against affirmative action and in support of the flat tax? Yet, unlike the incendiary Linda Chavez--Bush's short-lived first choice for the job--Chao has avoided antagonizing her ideological opposites.
She's poised, tough, and a veteran of the presidential confirmation process, and--since 1993--has been married to Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman.
Her curriculum vitae could be a model for aspiring Cabinet Secretaries: a fellowship in the Reagan White House, a Harvard MBA, a two-year tour at Bank America in California, a stint as administrator of the Federal Maritime Commission, and with curtain calls as deputy Transportation secretary and Peace Corps director in the first Bush administration.
She even bulked up her resume during the past eight years of Republican famine by serving as the president and savior of a scandal-stricken United Way from 1992-96. Since then, from her Heritage pied-a-terre, she has been working the lecture circuit (to the tune of $80,000 in 1999) and gracing corporate boards.
Besides broad experience, Chao has built up a golden Rolodex with extensive contacts in Republican politics and in the corporate and philanthropic worlds. She's even on cordial terms with two labor chieftains--Communications Workers of America President Morton Bahr and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney who, during Chao's tenure, were members of the United Way board.
She also cemented her ties to Bush campaign--and now White House--insiders by becoming a contributor and fund-raiser extraordinaire. As one of the Bush campaign's elite "Pioneers," she raised at least $100,000 from individuals. She herself gave $27,000, all told, to the Bush campaign and state and national Republican Party funds in the 2000 election cycle, and she chaired the Kentucky GOP's get-out-the-vote committee, which raised at least $1 million.
Business has greeted her nomination with enthusiasm; labor's reaction--in contrast to the chilly reception given to Chavez--ranged from gushing (Bahr) to studiedly neutral (Sweeney). Though Chao has dealt with unions in earlier jobs, her lack of a high profile on labor issues is probably a plus. "She's very well prepared, knows the issues, is very smart, and has good political instincts," said Samuel K. Skinner, her former boss at Transportation who is now president of USFreightways Corp.
Unfortunately for Chao, neither her abilities nor her contacts may be enough to ward off the Curse of the Labor Secretary. The department is notorious for being a non-entity in administrations of both parties. Its twin constituencies--labor and management--are congenital enemies. And even far less divided Congresses than this one have invariably served as graveyards for labor and management initiatives alike.
In her nomination press conference, Chao sounded themes with broad appeal: job opportunities for welfare recipients and the disabled; job training for the disadvantaged; and help for parents juggling work and family pressures. But after two terms of a labor-friendly administration, business is insisting on a return to the status quo ante. "The job of Labor Secretary is going to be very tough ... tougher this first couple years than most," Skinner said.
Even if the captains of industry don't push for all their pent-up demands, they will insist on reversing the most reviled actions of the Clinton administration, including the new ergonomics standard and a regulation that bars businesses without a satisfactory labor record from bidding on federal contracts.
Just what Chao's role in all this will be isn't clear. For redress of existing gripes, most business groups are looking to Congress and the courts. And any high-stakes activism--such as efforts to curb labor's political clout as part of campaign finance reform--will likely be initiated by the White House.
Business does hope Chao will find a way to sell an overhaul of Depression-era labor laws to the public and Congress as a progressive imperative, and not the conservative backsliding that labor has branded it. But realists aren't holding their breath. Chao "has the skills to build consensus on some of the marginal issues, and to help us a little with some others," said Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Making the department more business friendly will be challenge enough. "The bureaucracy over there is enormous and entrenched," said Pat Cleary, vice president for human resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, and a former Reagan administration Labor official.
Still, Chao could use her administrative powers to help business with lower-profile matters, he said. "We've learned a thing or two" from the Clinton administration, Cleary said. "You don't really have to get legislation--you can do huge shifts in policy through opinion letters and advisories." Count on business to propose that Chao do likewise.