Labor Secretary Perez is hitting the ground running with a new and improved Department of Labor 2014-2018 Strategic Plan Outreach. I think it would be a mistake to think that President Obama picked Thomas E. Perez for Labor Secretary for the purposes of helping to turn this sorry economic situation around.
On the contrary, through the smoke and mirrors of his bullet points, the message is clear. The government has no intention of taking its boot off business’s throat. “Ensuring” access to opportunities that are already there means more government intervention.
Ensure access to opportunity . . .
- to earn a fair day’s pay
- for workers and employers to compete on a level playing field
- to retire with dignity and peace of mind
- opportunity for people to work in a safe and healthy environment
- and with the full protection of our anti-discrimination laws.
The names have changed, but the agenda? Not so much. A higher federally mandated minimum wage that won’t be a minimum wage, but a “living wage.” Undermining the employer/employee relationship through government intervention. Increasing labor union membership, bailing out labor union underfunded pensions. And other than putting more pressure on the coal industry, working in a safe and healthy environment isn’t an opportunity. It’s not only to the employer’s benefit to have a safe work environment, but is required. The antidiscrimination issue is code for lowering or eliminating job qualification standards, forcing employers to hire more people to make up for the loss in productivity.
To his credit though, Sec. Perez says he will allow you to take part in a live web chat starting Monday Aug. 5 at 2 pm. Make sure you are heard. And let’s see how sincere he really is in his method of finding common ground via “collaboration, consensus-building and pragmatic problem-solving.”
