NCL mourns the death of former US Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman
Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829
The National Consumers League mourns the death of Alexis Herman, whom we honored in 1999 with our Trumpeter Award for her service as US Secretary of Labor from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton.
Secretary Herman was raised in Mobile, Alabama, and joined the administration of Jimmy Carter, working as director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau. Herman became active in the Democratic Party and joined the cabinet of President Bill Clinton in 1997.
Herman championed apprenticeships for women in nontraditional jobs. After Jimmy Carter became president in 1977, he asked Herman to be director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau. At age 29, she was the youngest person to hold the position.
After President Bill Clinton was elected President in 1992, he appointed her director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, then appointed her in 1996 to serve as Secretary of Labor. On April 30, 1997, the Senate voted to confirm by a vote of 85–13. Herman was sworn in on May 9, 1997. Herman was the first Black-American and the fifth woman to serve in the position.
As Secretary of Labor, Herman earned praise from peers for handling the 1997 United Parcel Service (UPS) workers’ strike.
As secretary, Herman supported the 1996 and 1997 raises to the minimum wage, increasing it by $0.90 to $5.15 per hour by September 1997. She argued the wage hike increased the buying power of workers and later opposed a 1999 Republican-supported plan to raise the minimum wage over three years, instead supporting a two-year timetable for an increase.
Among Herman’s responsibilities as secretary was the enforcement of child labor laws, including finding Toys R Us $200,000 for violating laws restricting the type of work that may be done, and the number of hours that underage employees may work. The DOL found that more than 300 teenage employees were working more and longer hours than permitted, and Toys “R” Us agreed to stop the practices.
Herman supported the United States’ participation in the International Labor Organization’s Child Labor Convention.
NCL celebrates the many contributions of Secretary Herman during her distinguished career and appreciates the opportunity she provided to NCL to pay tribute to her with our Trumpeter Award in 1999.
About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
