Labor

The Sun keeps trolling the depths for examples of right-wing thinking like that of Matt Patterson's recent commentary on the nomination of Thomas Perez for labor secretary ("Why do we need a labor department?" March 22). The best supervisor I ever had during my employment career, a man who exuded integrity, had a phrase to describe sub-par work: "Thin gruel. " Mr. Patterson's piece epitomizes those words. I would be the last to argue that bureaucracies can't become bloated. Any organization can. But that does not necessarily mean its purpose and goals are flawed.

As a businessman I read The Sun to be informed and educated, not for snide and misinformed comments such as those in commentator Matt Patterson's piece on the nomination of Thomas Perez as labor secretary ("Why do we need a labor department?" March 22). It was difficult to determine whether the author meant to be taken seriously. To suggest that we don't need an agency to look out for the interests of workers, when their jobs have so often been shipped overseas and their salaries are stagnant at a time of record corporate profits that primarily benefit shareholders, is simply foolish.

William J. Rosenthal, a noted expert in labor and employment law who as a naval deck officer during World War II participated in the D-Day invasion, died March 12 of a hemorrhage at Northwest Hospital. He was 92. "He was a physically imposing person, and when he walked into a room, you could not help but appreciate his presence," said Stephen D. Shawe, a partner in the firm of Shawe & Rosenthal LLP. "He instilled incredible confidence in clients who'd say, 'I've got a lawyer who knows what he is doing.'" The son of a lawyer and a homemaker, William Jay Rosenthal was born in Baltimore and spent his early years on Ducatel Street before moving with his family to Egerton Road in Northwest Baltimore.

Well, America survived. Yes, it's true, the United States was able to withstand two months without a labor secretary. The previous secretary, Hilda Solis, stepped down on Jan. 22. That thud you heard was no one noticing. No one noticed because, like most of the federal government, the Department of Labor has become an enormous bureaucracy machine with a life of its own that functions in spite of - and in the absence of - any individual secretary. Nevertheless, President Barack Obama has anointed her successor, one Thomas Perez, formerly head of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and presently chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Just as they did when Thomas E. Perez was nominated to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Republicans are seeking to hold up his confirmation to head the U.S. Department of Labor, using any excuse they can think up, no matter how flimsy. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama criticized Mr. Perez, a former Montgomery County councilman and Maryland labor secretary, for his one-time service on the board of CASA de Maryland. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa complained that the president had nominated Mr. Perez for a cabinet post despite a congressional investigation into the Civil Rights Division and questions about whether he engineered a quid pro quo with the city of St. Paul, Minn.

Ernest B. Crofoot, a former labor organizer who later headed Council 67 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, died Friday of complications from cancer at his Annapolis home. He was 88. "Ernie was one hell of a trade unionist," said Ed A. Mohler, who went to work for Mr. Crofoot at AFSCME in 1968. "He put together a first-class staff at AFSCME and had people from the United Auto Workers, machinists, building trades and other unions who had a variety of experiences.

Senate Republicans criticized the nomination Monday of former state labor secretary Thomas E. Perez to lead the U.S. Department of Labor, signaling the longtime civil rights lawyer will face a contentious confirmation over his approach to the law and his record on immigration. Perez, the top civil rights attorney in the Justice Department, was nominated by President Barack Obama at a White House event that drew a host of supporters, including Gov. Martin O'Malley, AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Representatives of business and labor groups urged Maryland lawmakers Friday to fall in line behind Gov. Martin O'Malley plan to raise taxes on gasoline to fund transportation projects. At a morning news conference in Lawyers Mall outside the State House, Greater Baltimore Committeee president Donald C. Fry said an increase in transportation revenue is necessary for Maryland's economic health and quality of life. Fry said additional funding is needed to continue work on such major projects as Baltimore's Red Line.

Hispanic and union leaders in Maryland applauded reports Sunday that Thomas E. Perez, a longtime civil rights attorney who led the state's labor department for two years, is poised to be nominated as secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor as early as this week. Perez, an assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, has an extensive political history in Maryland that began more than a decade ago when he became the first Latino to win a seat on the Montgomery County Council. The 51-year-old lives in Takoma Park.

In the beginning, the search for a new home was all about studio space for artist Tendai Johnson, an instructor at Montgomery College. When his former work space in a large building in Washington's Chinatown was sold and working in his house in the H Street corridor became impossible, he and his family made the move north to Baltimore. Realtor Marci Yankelov of Century 21 found them a three-story stone Victorian townhouse in Baltimore's Reservoir Hill neighborhood. It was love at first sight.