Thursday, January 24, 2013
Former Law Prof Seth Harris Appointed Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor
Finally some sanity has returned to this insane world and Seth Harris (formerly a labor and employment law prof at New York Law School) and current Deputy Secretary of Labor has been named Acting Secretary of Labor with the departure of Hilda Solis. President Obama has not yet named a successor to Solis, but as far as I am concerned, I would just take the Acting title away from Seth and let him have at it.
You see, my friends, in my ideal world, law professors should run everything - especially the Labor Department. :>)
PS
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2013/01/former-law-prof-seth-harris-appointed-acting-us-secretary-of-labor-.html
Comments
Congrats to one of my old college buddies and colleagues at NY Law School.
Mitch
Posted by: Mitchell Rubinstein | Jan 24, 2013 2:08:22 PM
So thrilled for my old college buddy! So proud and pleased, Seth.
Posted by: Susan Bisom-Rapp | Jan 24, 2013 2:12:41 PM
Congratulations to Seth. Highly qualified and well trained. I witnessed it.
Posted by: Maria Sekas-Krum | Jan 24, 2013 4:53:50 PM
Yep, drop the "acting", Obama, and lets move ON! Hooray for Seth.
Posted by: Carlin Meyer | Jan 24, 2013 5:21:06 PM
The Honorable Seth D. Harris
Acting Secretary of Labor
United States Department of Labor
Frances Perkins Building
200 Constitution Avenue, Northwest
Washington, District of Columbia 20210
(202) 693-6000 Office
(202) 693-6111 Fax
[email protected]
Dear Acting Secretary Harris,
We are writing to express our strong concerns over the Department of Labor’s plan to suspend student enrollment in the Job Corps program through the end of the 2012 program as a cost saving measure.
On January 18, Congressional offices were notified that effective January 28, 2013, new student enrollment would be suspended at all Job Corps Centers across the country. Suspending student enrollment at all Job Corps centers will not only be detrimental to students, it will have a significantly negative impact. Many centers across the country may be forced to lay-off a significant portion of their staff and this is far from what these communities need as they are still struggling to recover from unprecedented unemployment and economic instability.
Sadly, this is the third time in eight months that the Department of Labor has suspended or cut student enrollment in the Job Corps program due to operational budget shortfalls. When asked, the Department of Labor has not provided Congressional offices with the amount of money that will be saved by implementing these policies. Also, the Department of Labor continues to say that the hope is these cuts will be temporary, through the end of the 2012 program year.
Job Corps has been around since 1964. At present they graduate over 60,000 students a year. In Virginia alone, we have 6 admissions and career transition offices and 3 major Job Corps campuses; Old Dominion, Blue Ridge and Flatwoods. At any given time, the Virginia Centers have 700+ students in career training and employ over 400 personnel. Job Corps has also worked diligently to develop specific training curriculum for local industries, including B & W Technology, Banker Steel, Newport News Shipyards, and the greater medical communities’ needs. This move will cause a major failure on Job Corps’ part in supplying quality, well educated workers for business and industry. I have been advised that this has been done and most if not all of our elected representatives have no knowledge of this action.
Numerous of our once homeless and impoverished graduates are now making wages as high as $35.00 per hour. Removing the opportunities of the Job Corps program to our demographic will have a considerably negative impact on our communities nationwide. Increase in crime, unemployment and homelessness will be just some of the results.
In Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis’ resignation announcement, she stated that she was proud of the $65 billon spent by the Department of Labor on job training programs. We ask that in your new position as Acting Secretary, you place a 30 day moratorium on reducing student slots and suspending enrollment, enabling the Department more time to reconsider these policies and instead work with center directors and operators to develop a reasonable, alternative cost savings plan to recapture the 2012 program year’s budget shortfall. Since the suspension of enrollment is scheduled to go into effect on January 28th, we request a reply prior to that date.
It is urgent to consider what Congress can accomplish in order to avert this disaster. Your support is not only appreciated, but essential.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Allen Roberts
CC: The Honorable Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary of Employment and Training Administration
Posted by: Kimberly Roberts | Jan 25, 2013 10:33:42 AM
Good for Seth, good for the DoL, good for the country.
Posted by: Joseph Slater | Jan 24, 2013 12:19:01 PM