Labor secretary pushes education of Hispanics

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP)- U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao on Friday urged a group of Hispanic media publishers to convey the importance of education to its readers.

Chao, who spoke at the annual conference of the National Association of Hispanic Publications at a resort here, said the United States is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy and will need workers with higher skills and more education.

``What we're seeing is not so much a wage gap in our country, as a skills gap,'' she said. ``That's the mismatch between the skills required for the new jobs being created and the skills of some workers.''

Chao said that by 2014, 1.3 million computer specialist jobs and 4.9 million healthcare positions will open.

``We must get the message out to our young people that good jobs are available, but they must stay in school in order to access these opportunities,'' she said.

Chao told the publishers that her department is working to reach the Hispanic community in its own way.

She said the department has 300 Spanish-speaking workplace inspectors who are dedicated to responding to complaints, regardless of people's language or immigration status.

She said the Spanish-speaking workers make people feel more comfortable filing complaints, even though they might be fearful because of their immigration status.

``It's very natural when you're new to a country, to a community,'' Chao said. ``There's hesitation, unfamiliarity and fear, not only of federal government, but fear of not being able to survive.''

She added that Hispanic immigrants suffer a disproportionate number of job-related injuries, partially because they often don't demand the safety standards Americans do.

The National Association of Hispanic Publications is a nonprofit group comprised of 169 Hispanic publications, mostly written in Spanish.