A new Web site put together by American Rights at Work exposes U.S. secretary of labor Elaine Chao's dismal record on everything from worker safety to questionable use of taxpayer money. "The public deserves an honest picture of her administration and its egregious policies affecting workers," says the site, titled Shame on Elaine.

Among the "lowlights" of Chao's tenure the Web site outlines:

• She hired a former colleague from the Heritage Foundation who wrote a report titled "How to close down the Department of Labor."
• She cut more than 100 inspectors at the Mine Safety and Health Administration; as a result, hundreds of mines weren't inspected and tragedies such as Sago and Crandall Canyon might have been prevented.
• She had Chao-themed coins, lanyards and fleece blankets printed at taxpayers' expense.
• She failed to issue a rule requiring employers pay for their workers' safety gear—contributing to 400,000 workers injured and 50 dead.

"This is a classic case of a fox guarding the henhouse," says Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of American Rights at Work. "Unlike her cohorts in the Bush administration, Chao has escaped much-needed public scrutiny of her record. Elaine Chao's long honeymoon is over as we are taking her to task on a wide range of issues and policies she's supported to the detriment of America's workers."

As the Bush administration enters its final year, American Rights at Work promises to continue the campaign to demand accountability from Chao and help raise the standards necessary for the next secretary of labor.

February 20, 2008