WASHINGTON?Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said America’s work force this Labor Day weekend is stronger, safer and more skilled than ever. Organized labor offers a strikingly different picture: unhappy workers who distrust their employers.

?The state of the work force is strong,? Chao said Thursday in her first Labor Day address, which she delivered to business and government officials at a forum of the Council of Excellence in Government. ?But we can always do better, and we will, if we focus on improving the lives of America’s working families.?

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce weighed in with a study that showed a half-million jobs were created in the past year, and wages of private, nonfarm workers increased 1.7 percent from a year ago.

According to an AFL-CIO poll, however, most workers think they need an improved job situation and don’t trust their employers to treat them fairly.