Obama Labor Dept. Stresses Law Enforcement—Big Change from Bush Era

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
by James Parks, Oct 25, 2010

The U.S. Labor Department is committed to stronger enforcement of labor laws and is determined to reverse a “culture of noncompliance’’ that developed during the anti-worker years of the Bush administration, Labor Solicitor Patricia Smith said.
Smith told a labor law conference at Suffolk University Law School last week that the Bush administration emphasized voluntary compliance by employers while investigations and enforcement of labor laws declined, according to the Daily Labor Report (subscription required).
They relied on trickle-down enforcement; it doesn’t work any better than trickle-down economics. [As a result of reduced enforcement] many employers developed a “catch-me-if-you-can” attitude. Our challenge is to change that attitude.

Full Story:http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/10/25/obama-labor-dept-stresses-law-enforcement-big-change-from-bush-era/