A Negotiator For Labor

Who wants "Government out"

He was the seventh of twelve children born to a working-class family in gritty Bayonne, N.J. An orphan at 17, he began as a $48-a-week laborer. Now, he is the principal stockholder of the $50 million-a-year Schiavone Construction Co. in Secaucus, a "realization of the American dream," he says proudly. But Ronald Reagan's choice of Raymond James Donovan, 50, to be Secretary of Labor probably owes less to his business acumen than to his accomplishments as a political fund raiser. By Donovan's own account, he raised more than $600,000 for Reagan in the past 18 months, a feat that vaulted him over the heads of more veteran G.O.P. figures to the top of the New Jersey Reagan-Bush campaign committee.

Associates say that Donovan, who still has the muscular build of a construction worker, will bring two key skills to the 23,940-employee Labor Department: a strong managerial bent and a shrewd talent for negotiating. And loyalty, says a fellow New Jersey Republican: "You will always know what the President wants done because that's what Ray Donovan will be doing."

Surprisingly, Donovan's nomination seemed to please leaders in business and labor, as well as the unions' staunchest enemy, the National Right to Work Committee, which seeks to eliminate labor contracts that require union membership as a condition of employment. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Teamsters Union had lobbied hard for another candidate for the job, former National Labor Relations Board Chairman Betty Southard Murphy, but leaders of both decided that Donovan was acceptable. A New Jersey union negotiator, who has observed Donovan's smooth dealings over the years with the Teamsters and other unions, praised him as "tough but fair."

Donovan apparently was among Reagan's earliest choices for his Cabinet, but announcement of the appointment was held up by the requirements of the Ethics in Government Act. While other appointees whose wealth consists of diverse holdings can satisfy the act by establishing so-called blind trusts, Donovan was forced to divest himself of his $22 million in Schiavone stock.

One of the wealthiest of Reagan's appointees so far, Donovan is also the most reclusive. As a young man, he considered becoming a priest. Instead, after graduating from New Orleans' Notre Dame Seminary in 1952, he returned to Bayonne to help support his younger brothers and sisters. He joined Schiavone Co. in 1959 as vice president in charge of labor relations and finance. Donovan is now executive vice president of the firm, which specializes in building bridges and tunnels. Donovan now lives with his wife and three children in a large colonial home in affluent Short Hills, N.J.

A Democrat in his youth, Donovan supported Reagan in 1976 but did not become a prominent campaign worker until June 1979, when he was asked to help raise funds. He persuaded Frank Sinatra to fly in for a Sunday night fund raiser at his country club. The result: $175,000 in contributions for Reagan--ten times more than expected.

The new Secretary will have to be equally resourceful at the Labor Department. Business groups will want him to rein in pesky regulatory agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Unions will want him to resist those pressures and to quash the idea, popular among businessmen, of a lower minimum wage for youths. While declining to take a stand on such issues before his confirmation hearing, Donovan does say that he thinks reducing the Government's role in the economy is crucial. Says he: "We no longer have the best and the cheapest. We must get back to work in both the business and labor communities and get Government out."

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