Washington, D.C. — David Madland, CAP Senior Fellow and Senior Advisor to the American Worker Project at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement on former U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao’s nomination to serve as the secretary of transportation under President-elect Donald Trump.
Like Donald Trump’s smoke-and-mirrors infrastructure plan, Elaine Chao’s nomination to head the U.S. Department of Transportation may look good at first glance, but underneath is an ominous sign for workers. Chao’s long record of anti-union sentiment and worker hostility is well documented; when she served as secretary of labor, her agency “left thousands of actual victims of wage theft … with nowhere to turn,” according to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. Donald Trump ran on a platform of standing up for middle-class families but has nominated anti-worker, big business advocates at every turn. By nominating Chao, Trump has given a clear indication that his much-vaunted possible infrastructure plan is likely to do far less for workers than advertised.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.