Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Raymond Donovan, 90, Dies; Labor Secretary Quit Under a Cloud
Source: New York Times
Raymond J. Donovan, who resigned as labor secretary in the Reagan administration while facing criminal charges of having earlier schemed to defraud New York City of millions of dollars when he was a New Jersey construction company executive — charges of which he was acquitted by a jury — died on Wednesday at his home in New Vernon, N.J. He was 90.
A New Jersey funeral home, Gallaway & Crane in Basking Ridge, said the cause was congestive heart failure.
The fraud charges were in an indictment that the Bronx district attorney obtained in 1984 in one of two criminal investigations that buffeted Mr. Donovan’s tenure as labor secretary, from February 1981 to March 1985.
The other investigation was by a federal special prosecutor who pursued allegations that Mr. Donovan — also before he joined the government — had had connections with organized crime figures and had witnessed an illegal payoff to a union leader. That investigation ended without charges being brought.
A New Jersey funeral home, Gallaway & Crane in Basking Ridge, said the cause was congestive heart failure.
The fraud charges were in an indictment that the Bronx district attorney obtained in 1984 in one of two criminal investigations that buffeted Mr. Donovan’s tenure as labor secretary, from February 1981 to March 1985.
The other investigation was by a federal special prosecutor who pursued allegations that Mr. Donovan — also before he joined the government — had had connections with organized crime figures and had witnessed an illegal payoff to a union leader. That investigation ended without charges being brought.
(snip)
Mr. Donovan’s actions as secretary reflected President Ronald Reagan’s ardent advocacy of free enterprise unfettered by government regulation. The union leaders saw them as the business-favoring moves of a hard-right Republican administration seeking to reverse labor’s hard-won gains.
The previous Democratic administration of Jimmy Carter had enacted or proposed regulations strengthening a number of employment standards, including those on occupational safety and health. Mr. Donovan withdrew or suspended them.
At the same time, he sought to reverse decades-old laws prohibiting workers in several industries, like the knitted outerwear business, from working at home, and to expand the types of jobs and hours that 14- and 15-year-olds could legally work.
Labor leaders said such steps would foster violations of minimum wage, child labor and other laws. Mr. Donovan countered, “We are not cutting out any health and safety requirements meaningful to the protections of workers.” Rather, he said, the Labor Department was “changing the approach” to labor practice, scrapping what he called a regulatory “police state mentality” that had prevented some American industries from being competitive with their foreign counterparts.
The previous Democratic administration of Jimmy Carter had enacted or proposed regulations strengthening a number of employment standards, including those on occupational safety and health. Mr. Donovan withdrew or suspended them.
At the same time, he sought to reverse decades-old laws prohibiting workers in several industries, like the knitted outerwear business, from working at home, and to expand the types of jobs and hours that 14- and 15-year-olds could legally work.
Labor leaders said such steps would foster violations of minimum wage, child labor and other laws. Mr. Donovan countered, “We are not cutting out any health and safety requirements meaningful to the protections of workers.” Rather, he said, the Labor Department was “changing the approach” to labor practice, scrapping what he called a regulatory “police state mentality” that had prevented some American industries from being competitive with their foreign counterparts.
full story: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/05/us/raymond-j-donovan-dead.html
Donovan's most famous quote: “Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?”