Staffers celebrate exit of Bush's labour secretary

Washington: During these last few days of the Bush administration, you might expect gatherings where career staffers bid a fond farewell to the political appointees they've worked closely with for years.

Labour Department staffers held such an affair last week, a going-away event for the top appointee there. But rather than a fond farewell, it was a good-riddance party to cheer the departure of secretary Elaine Chao.

Alexander Bastani, president of Local 12 of the American Federation of Government Employees, set the tone for the occasion by leading the crowd in a serenade to the secretary: "Na na na na, na na na na, hey, hey, goodbye."

"Sisters and brothers, we are 11 days away," he said to cheers from about 100 of his members on Friday night at Clyde's of Gallery Place. "Eleven days away from freedom."

The setting was the restaurant's Piedmont Room, a plush chamber with cherry wood panelling on the walls and ceiling.

'End of tyranny'

Of course, no party is complete without a cake. This bash featured a yellow one with white icing and the words "Ciao to Chao" written on top.

That, explained Eleanor Lauderdale, vice president of the local, "symbolises the end of tyranny at the Department of Labour."

The most surprising thing about the cake was the ability of Everett Horton, a waiter, to carry six plates of it on his outstretched arm at one time.

"I dropped a lot of cakes," while learning, he said, "but it's second nature now."

Also notable is the way union leaders respond differently to agency heads. It's not an ideological thing where all Republican appointees are bad folks in the eyes of Democratic union bosses.

During a union holiday party before Christmas with Department of Housing and Urban Development workers, the attitude exhibited toward that agency's leadership was much more positive than the brickbats thrown at Chao. Labour leaders said the Baltimore law firm Snider & Associates paid for the $6,000 (Dh22,000) affair.

A Snider advertisement on the back page of the local's newsletter notes the firm's representation of federal employees and says "Local 12 trusts us... So should you!"

Chao's shop brushed off the event like Jay-Z flicking dirt off his shoulder.

"While a disgruntled few may have been griping at happy hour, most of the department's 15,000-plus career employees have been enthusiastically achieving record pro-worker results under secretary Chao's leadership," said Jennifer Coxe, the deputy assistant secretary of public affairs.

For example, she said, Labour's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reporting the lowest fatality, illness and injury rates in history, and there were fewer deaths in mines last year than ever before.