U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao (Mrs. Mitch McConnell) talks to guests aboard the Norwegian Cruise Lines 'U.S. The Pride of America', the largest U.S.-flagged ship ever built, before she officially christened the vessel in New York June 17, 2005.=======
As Labor Secretary, Chao authored and published proposed regulations that would raise the minimum salary for automatic overtime eligibility from $8,060 to $22,100, while exempting almost all white-collar workers earning more than $65,000. The changes would be the first since 1975. Anyone in the armed services would not qualify for overtime. On January 20, 2004, the overdue 2004 spending bill to which Chao's proposals were attached failed to obtain the 60-vote supermajority in the United States Senate needed to end debate and allow a second vote necessary for final passage.
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....Participants said Chao shocked the group by opposing any increase in the minimum wage, showing no sympathy for retired steelworkers who lost pension benefits, and reciting a list of legal actions her department has taken against unions and their leaders.
"We had a pretty unbelievable session," AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney said after hearing Chao. "She was angry at points, insulting at points. I said that in all my years in labor, I've never seen a secretary of labor so anti-labor."
Chao said the meeting was "a very frank and productive discussion."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A14129-2003Feb27¬Found=true======
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