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Department of Labor Develops Plan to Outsource Women's Bureau Positions

The Department of Labor has proposed a plan to outsource half of the career positions within its Women’s Bureau according to a press release from Congresswomen Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). In response to the job cuts, more than 100 Democratic members of Congress have asked Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to reconsider the proposal and continue its support of the only bureau dedicated exclusively to women's issues in employment.

The House members wrote that they were troubled to learn of the agency's plans to "outsource almost half of the career positions" and that "such action would result in a significant loss of institutional knowledge for the Women's Bureau and would considerably reduce the Bureau's effectiveness."

In February, the Bush administration drew criticism for an economic report that stated that offshoring jobs "makes sense."

At the Republican National Convention before Missouri delegates, Chao said in an interview "People talk about" outsourcing "a lot.” “The anxiety belies the numbers."

She reported that in the past year, employers have eliminated about 300,000 jobs in United States in favor of cheaper labor in other countries.

U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), issued a statement in response to Secretary Choa’s assertion to the Associated Press that “anxiety” over outsourcing is unfounded. “Secretary’s Chaos’s statement about the outsourcing of U.S. jobs confirms that the Bush Administration has little understanding of or sympathy for the pain of unemployment affecting millions of Americans."

A study by Forrester Research estimates that millions of American jobs will be lost to outsourcing over the next several years. It appears that the Bush Administration is cheering those jobs right out of the country.

According to a recent study by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy, the CEOs of the 50 firms with the highest rate of outsourcing saw their compensation increase by 46 percent over last year. The Bush Administration is right when it says that someone is benefiting from outsourcing and it is not working men and women.