WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding the funeral and memorial service for Dr. Dorothy Height:

"Today, our nation remembered the life of Dr. Dorothy Height during funeral services at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. She was a champion of the civil rights movement and a staunch women's advocate. Dr. Height understood that the way forward in the civil rights movement was connected to the education and economic prosperity of African-Americans.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $1,234,762 grant to assist about 200 workers affected by layoffs at ATK Launch Systems in Corinne, Utah.

The planned retirement of the space shuttle is already having negative impacts on workers around the country, including these individuals in Utah, said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. This grant will ensure that that these aerospace workers will receive the training and services needed to keep them at the forefront of emerging industries.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $1.3 million National Emergency Grant supplemental award to continue clean-up and recovery efforts from storms that occurred in Indiana in 2008.

"Indiana is still in the midst of recovering from the terrible storms that struck the state in the summer of 2008," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Additional funding announced today will help support temporary jobs for Hoosiers impacted by these storms."

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that approximately 4,700 workers from companies in 12 states – Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin – are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending April 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 448,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 459,000. The 4-week moving average was 462,500, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 461,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending April 17, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson Amy Louviere today issued the following statement regarding a roof collapse at Dotiki Mine in Hopkins County, Ky.:

"On April 28, at approximately 10:40 p.m. CDT, MSHA received word of a roof collapse at the Dotiki Mine in Hopkins County, Ky. Dotiki is operated by Webster County Coal LLC and owned by Alliance Resource Partners LP.

WASHINGTON – In keeping with the president's memorandum on open government, the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is releasing 15 years of data providing details of workplace exposure to toxic chemicals.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement on Workers Memorial Day, April 28, 2010:

"Mary Harris 'Mother' Jones once said, 'Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.' That call to arms rings especially true today, on Workers Memorial Day, and on the heels of a tragic month for the nation's working families.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service today announced a $5 million grant competition to provide job training, counseling and placement services (including job readiness, and literacy and skills training) to expedite the reintegration of homeless female veterans and veterans with families into the labor force.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that MSHA inspectors responded to three separate anonymous complaints about hazardous conditions at three coal mines owned by Massey Energy Co.

Burnsville, Minnesota – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Larry Lauterbach, the president and former owner of the Burnsville construction company Slate Cement Inc., for making untimely and delinquent participant contributions and loan repayments to the company’s 401(k) plan and to its health and dental plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor s Women s Bureau will host a teleconference focusing on opportunities and resources available to help women succeed in green entrepreneurship. This program, which is open to the public and press, will be the second in a series of teleconferences designed to provide workforce practitioners an exchange of ideas on how to better connect women with green jobs training and employment.

WHO: Speakers are as follows:

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement on worker deaths:

"Yesterday we received the sad news that another worker died from injuries he sustained from the fire earlier this month at the Tesoro Corp.'s Anacortes, Wash., refinery. That brings to seven the number who lost their lives in that tragedy. Today the families and friends of those workers gather to mourn their loss. They are in our prayers, and our hearts go out to them.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement on the death of W. Willard Wirtz:

"Willard Wirtz liked to call me '25.' So I would call him '10.' The number suited him perfectly.

Nashville, Tennessee – The U.S. Department of Labor has agreed to an amended consent judgment with David Starkey, a former corporate officer of Midland Employer Services in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville division, the amended judgment requires the defendant to repay the full amount still owed to the former company’s group health plan, currently $46,248.75 plus interest accrued from April 25, 2005, to the present.

Nashville, Tennessee – A federal court in Nashville has issued a default judgment order against Midland Employer Services of Brentwood, Tennessee, to protect 401(k) assets owned by workers at the defunct employee leasing company.

The order, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, removes the defendant from service as fiduciary of the plan and appoints Jeanne Barnes Bryant as an independent fiduciary with responsibility to terminate the plan and distribute its assets to eligible plan participants.

WASHINGTON – Every day, about 14 Americans fail to come home from work to their families. Tens of thousands die from workplace disease and more than 4.6 million workers are seriously injured on the job annually. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in an effort to address urgent safety and health problems facing Americans in the workplace, is implementing a new Severe Violator Enforcement Program and increasing civil penalty amounts.

Turning Green to Gold, Safely campaign to collect best practices from public

WASHINGTON – The Muhlenberg Job Corps Center of Greenville, Ky., today received the first ever "Earth Day, Every Day" National Green Center Recognition Award from Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis in an Earth Day 40th anniversary ceremony at the U.S. Department of Labor.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $16,571,738 National Emergency Grant increment to continue clean-up and recovery efforts in the wake of the tsunami that struck American Samoa on Sept. 29, 2009.