Wages, Job Training

* In an interview with The Times, I discussed newly released Labor Department figures that showed a 3% annual drop in the average salary and benefits of American workers. The data were, I told the reporter, disappointing. And they underscored the urgency of President Clinton’s ongoing efforts to invest in education and job training for ordinary Americans.

But your headline read like something out of “Alice in Wonderland”: “Reich Cites Falling Wages as Administration Failure” (June 23). Huh?

Clinton’s jobs record is second to none. Since he came to office, the American economy has added nearly 7 million new jobs--almost all of them in the private sector, and most of them in high-paying industries. His budget plan produced declining federal deficits for three consecutive years, the first time that’s happened since Harry Truman was President.

Is there more to do? Of course--especially lifting wages of ordinary working Americans. That can’t be accomplished overnight, but it can be achieved through strategic investments in skills and education--precisely the investments President Clinton seeks, and precisely the investments his opponents seek to abolish.

Let me offer an alternative--far more accurate--headline: “Reich Cites Falling Wages as Reason Not to Slice Investments in Education and Job Training.”

ROBERT B. REICH

Secretary of Labor, Washington