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The History of Labor Day Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means "Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation." Labor Day, the first Monday...

To: National Desk, Labor Reporter Contact: Mike Biddle of the U.S. Department of Labor, 202-693-5051 WASHINGTON, July 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced three grants totaling $377, 677 that will provide training and employment services to veterans in Florida, Oregon and Washington. "These grants provide support for veterans looking for good jobs," said Secretary of Labor Chao. "These men and women served their country proudly. President Bush and I are committed to ensuring that every veteran who wants a job can find one, and that no veteran is left behind." The grantees are...

Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Highlights Hispanic Worker Safety, Delivers Address at U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce Roundtable 5/26/2004 4:12:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk, Labor Reporter Contact: Mike Biddle of the U.S. Department of Labor, 202-693-5051 WASHINGTON, May 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao expressed her concern for Hispanic worker safety at the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce's NAFTA & CAFTA Conference and Good Neighbor Awards Gala today at the Westin Embassy Row Hotel. "The Department of Labor is concerned about workplace injuries and fatalities among Hispanic workers," said Chao. "That's why we established...

U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces $1.5 Million Grant For English Proficiency and Job Training for Hispanic Workers 5/19/2004 3:41:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Lorette Post of the U.S. Department of Labor, 202-693-3984 WASHINGTON, May 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced a grant of $1.5 million to aid unemployed Hispanic youth and adults in the Baltimore area. The grant is the third in the Labor Department's National Hispanic Worker Initiative, announced earlier this year. "The National Hispanic Worker Initiative will help our country's Hispanic workers prepare for and find...

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION USDL 04-844-NAT         Program Contact: TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL IN THIS Thomas Stengle (202) 693-2991 RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL Media Contact : 8:30 A.M. (EDT), THURSDAY (202) 693-4676 May 13, 2004     UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending May 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 331,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 318,000. The 4-week moving average was 335,750, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week's revised average of 343,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate...

<p>May 11, 2004 -- DON'T get too excited about all those new jobs that were supposed to have been created in April.</p> <p>I'm not going to waste a lot of my precious space on this, but the bottom line is that most of the 288,000 jobs that the Labor Department says were created last month may not really exist.</p>

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- On Sunday, busloads of hostile demonstrators converged on the Washington, DC home of President Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove. Several hundred people carrying signs surrounded the house, pounding on the windows and shouting slogans. The protest was organized by National People's Action, a coalition of groups whose advocacy includes rights for illegal immigrants and increased government funding for a wide range of social programs. The philosophy of their confrontational tactics is embodied in their official song: "Who's on your hit list NPA? Who's on your hit list for today? Take no prisoner, take no names....

<p>WASHINGTON, March 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Hundreds of community leaders from National People's Action (NPA) are paying a visit to the home of Department of Labor's (DOL) Secretary Elaine Chao on Sunday, March 28. They are demanding that low-wage workers receive quality job training and access to permanent jobs.</p>

Community Leaders Demand that DOL Secretary Elaine Chao Support Low-Wage Workers, Hundreds Gather at Her Home 3/28/2004 5:21:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Emily Severson, 708-466-4433; http://www.npa-us.org WASHINGTON, March 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Hundreds of community leaders from National People's Action (NPA) are paying a visit to the home of Department of Labor's (DOL) Secretary Elaine Chao on Sunday, March 28. They are demanding that low-wage workers receive quality job training and access to permanent jobs. Leaders plan to arrive around 6 p.m. to Chao's house, located at 217 C Street, NE, in Washington. There have been 3...

A truck driver or warehouseman represented by Teamsters Local 710 -- with a few years under the belt and some overtime -- might pull in $52,000 a year. Before he retired Dec. 31, longtime Local 710 boss Frank Wsol also was, on average, making $52,000 -- a month. Wsol's $630,000-a-year salary was the highest of any Teamsters officer in the country, even James P. Hoffa, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters chieftain. He also appeared to be the highest-paid labor leader in the Chicago area, though six-figure salaries are common for top union officials here, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis...

Total employment was down in February to 138.3 million, and the employment- population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and older with jobs-- declined to 62.2 percent. The ratio was at or near that level for most of 2003. Over the month, the civilian labor force decreased by 392,000 to 146.5 million, and the labor force participation rate fell to 65.9 percent. (See table A-1.)

<p>WASHINGTON — A teachers union that spends heavily to support political candidates is acknowledging for the first time that the government is investigating whether all its expenditures have been reported.</p> <p>National Education Association (search) general counsel Bob Chanin confirmed the Labor Department investigation began in April 2002, the same month a conservative law firm complained to the Bush administration that millions of dollars in political spending went unreported.</p>

Anyone understand what this really means. I was concerned that some really bad data related to the increase in Inflation may be represented in these numbers, hence the real delay. Delay of Release of PPI for January 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As announced on February 17, the release of the Producer Price Index (PPI) for January 2004 has been delayed from the originally scheduled date of February 19, 2004. The delay was caused by unexpected difficulties in the conversion of PPI data from the Standard Industrial Classification system to the North American Industry Classification System. These difficulties have taken longer to resolve...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Economists didn't expect June's unemployment rate to be much different from May's, which was an already-low 5.6 percent. But in fact, it did fall -- to 5.3 percent. The unemployment rate hasn't been that low since June 1990.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, offering hope that companies may be feeling better about business conditions and less inclined to hand out pink slips.</p> <p>The Labor Department (search) reported Thursday that for the work week ending Feb. 14, new applications filed for jobless benefits plunged by a seasonally adjusted 24,000 to 344,000. It marked the largest decline since the beginning of November and left claims at their lowest level since the week ending Jan. 24.</p>

Labor Secretary Chao Inaugurates Baghdad Career Center   By Kathryn McConnell / State Dept. Washington File   WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2004 — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao on a two-day trip to Iraq inaugurated a career and training center in Baghdad and visited the city's police academy and an orphanage.The secretary also visited a center for women's rights in Hilla, according to a Jan. 29, 2004, Labor Department news release.The training center is the first of several to be operated in major cities around the country by Iraq's restored Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, according to a...

<p>WASHINGTON -- The job market is considered the biggest indicator of the health of any economy and one of the most important determinants of economic policymaking.</p> <p>What do you do when it's unclear how the job market is doing?</p> <p>That's a question U.S. economists are asking as data and anecdotal information on the labor market increasingly tell different stories.</p>

Jan 29, 1:44 PM ESTChao Tells Women'Fight for Soul' of IraqSARAH EL DEEBAssociated Press Writer HILLA, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told Iraqi women Thursday that it's up to them take part in the political life of the new Iraq, rejecting the idea of setting up quotas for women.Chao, the first Asian-American woman to serve in the Cabinet, met with dozens of Iraqi women during a visit to a women's center set up by the U.S.-led coalition."In democracy, the most important factor is energy," Chao told them. "You are fighting for the soul of your country."Iraqi women...

ARLINGTON, Va. – President Bush's labor secretary warned a gathering of conservatives that Americans must pay more attention to the United Nations and its related organizations, which she noted were chipping away at U.S. sovereignty and threatening freedoms. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, making her charges late Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, explained that powerful tax-exempt organizations were applying pressure through the U.N. to have the world body make decisions for Americans' lives without any input from U.S. citizens. These efforts are being made without the knowledge of most Americans, she pointed out. Chao cited a recent case where...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Labor Department on Tuesday defended Bush administration plans to change overtime rules, and labor groups said the proposed changes threaten to cut paychecks of millions of Americans. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said the administration wants to change the 1938 law to ensure an additional 1.3 million low-wage workers can claim overtime pay. Updating the law to better define who is eligible for overtime would also help cut down on litigation in pay disputes, Chao told a Senate panel. But Richard Trumka, secretary treasurer of the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor federation, said 8 million workers...