HILDA SOLIS: Labor Secretary (VIDEO)

AP: Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis of California will be Barack Obama's pick for labor secretary as the president-elect fills the last open positions in his Cabinet, a labor official told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Solis, who is the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants, has been the only member of Congress of Central American descent. She just won a fifth term representing heavily Hispanic portions of eastern Los Angeles County and east LA.

Obama planned to announce Solis' selection on Friday along with his selection of Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois for transportation secretary. The official spoke on conditions of anonymity because an announcement has not been made yet. A call to Solis's office was not immediately returned.

Solis, in 1994, was the first Latina elected to the California Senate, where she led the battle to increase the state's minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.75 an hour in 1996.

In Congress, she wrote a measure that authorized $125 million for work force training programs in areas such as energy efficiency retrofitting and "green building" construction.

Andy Stern, president of the 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union, the 51-year-old praised Solis for her deep roots in the union movement. He recalled marching with her in Los Angeles -- well before she was elected to Congress -- to seek higher wages and benefits for janitors.

"We were with her fighting for the rights of people who work from the beginning and we're so proud that she's been chosen to be the labor secretary," Stern said.

More high praise for Solis in statements from SEIU, Unite to Win, American Rights at Work, and Change to Win.

Here's video of Solis speaking on the House floor about the Employee Free Choice Act, a top legislative priority for the labor movement.

Story continues below

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Solis is viewed by environmental groups as one of the foremost proponents of green jobs and environmental justice. The Sierra Club and Wonk Room's Brad Johnson have more on her record, and Johnson posts this video of Solis speaking "about her commitment to solving global warming through a clean energy economy for all":

Hilda Solis has blogged for the Huffington Post multiple times in recent years, often about labor issues. Check out the full archive here.

Read more about Hilda Solis, Hilda Solis labor , Hilda Solis Labor Secretary, Solis, Rep. Hilda Solis, Hilda Solis on Source Watch, Hilda Solis votes.

Comments

[Cherubim]

Sorry, folks, but she will put the country to sleep.

[Bono24]

I just hope she has nothing to do with El Monte City Politics. That would be really sad:(

[lj9283]

I wonder if the appointment of Ms. Solis is specific to the events of last week and the Auto Bridge Loan package failure.

Last week Mr. Obama made it clear that he wanted to see passage of the loan bill.

He saw GM and Chrysler management make concessions, he saw the UAW step up and make concessions.

Then the opposition to the bill demanded concessions from the UAW that would effectively make the Union superfluous.

The opposition then spent the rest of the week vilifying, denigrating, and ridiculing the Union, and then refused passage of the bill based on the Union not agreeing to its own demise.

That is not in the spirit of compromise that Mr. Obama has engendered over the past months.

Could it be that Mr. Obama was waiting to see how the Auto Bridge Loan package played out to make his choice for Labor Secretary?

He could have made a more moderate choice. The Republicans chose not to compromise, and broadcast their agenda for the destruction of organized labor.

So Mr. Obama has not some one in charge of enforcing the Labor Laws of the country who is in favor of organized labor, but who is a passionate advocate of organized labor.

Perhaps Mr. Obama is sending a message to the opposition with this appointment..."You screw with me, I'll screw with you."

[jmicheline]

lj9283, I see you said "He saw GM and Chrysler management make concessions, he saw the UAW step up and make concession­s".......I have to ask what concessions you saw the UAW take? I haven't seen them take any concessions and actually refused to take concessions forcing Republicans to bust the Bill.

[lj9283]

http://www.uaw.org/auto/12_12_08auto2.cfm

If you watch the first part of the news conference Ron Gettelfinger details the concessions that were agreed to between Corker and the UAW, and then rejected by the Republican caucus.

[taricaziz]

Elaine Chao was on the board of directors at Northwest Airlines, look at where they ended up. The repubs have done a good job of getting their people and message out, and, infiltrating organizations and slowly turning them into wingnut operations. I used to work with a bunch of guys from the southern states, they always said " no poor guy ever gave them a job" They had complete Faith in the bosses. Do they teach anything about the labor movement in schools??

[PallinAround]

Did she buy Palin's designer jacket on eBay?

[Razorbazk2005]

LOL... Good one.

[joehines]

While Rep. Solis may be an inspirational choice, the incoming Administration has made workforce issues its lowest priority. Change.gov does not even list it as a topic. The only mention of Labor issues on Change.gov are a few items of interest to organized labor. I worked at Labor for more than 30 years. The last several were painful because of the Bush administration's anti-worker thrust. They did enormous damage to workforce protections in this country. Obama does not seem to have any interest in dealing with that. He seems to be appealing only to organized labor, a relatively small part of the workforce.

[lj9283]

Actually organized labor falls under the auspices of the NLRB for the most part, so the appointment of Ms. Solis only brings her background in worker, and workforce protection to the enforcement of the country's labor laws. If and when EFCA is passed enforcement falls to the NLRB, not the Labor Dept.

In addition her experience with new "green" technologies will provide unique insight into new laws that will need developed for worker, and workforce protection as those new technologies become a force in the economy.

Some reading one her background:
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=12&year=2008&base_name=hilda_solis_is_great

[SailFree]

Given the coming Ice Age, one should be looking for "white jobs," those that are compatible with deep snow and ice.

We are in a natural COOLING CYCLE now caused by sun cycles.

http://businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081218205953.aspx

[PallinAround]

Right. And dinosaurs and humans inhabited the earth at the same time.

Yeah, it's all NATURAL -- nothing to do with greenhouse gases heating up the world like a big solar cooker. Sure. Palin has a bridge to nowhere to sell you.

[gjefferson]

So the president of the United States is going to convince everybody from CEOs to shareholders to investors to basically focus on fairness and not profit, because that's the only way to fix this. We need some adult supervision. We've had adult supervision. It's called Chris Dodd, it's called Franklin Raines, it's called Barney Frank, it's called Jim Johnson, it's called Nancy Pelosi, it's called Harry Reid. We've had lots of adult supervision here. It's called Rod Blagojevich. We've had a lot of adult supervision here, and they got exactly what they wanted, Mr. President-select.

[Lagniappe]

Let's not forget to add in the adult supervision of the SEC and NASDAQ honcho,Bernie Madoff. Or the supervisiory skills of Tenent,and Rumsfeld ,or "Heck of a job",Brownie of Katrina shame.The list goes on-and last but not least, Gee DUHbya,hisself.our nation's sole man.

[SailFree]

I would prefer if all politicians stop using the words "fair" or "fairness." These are imprecise, squirmy and squirrelly concepts that cannot be defined exactly enough to allow meaningful legislative decisions. How about we just stick to what is factually and logically sensible?

[timberdoodle]

With a choice like this America is already on the path to recovery. It is so hard for the masses to understand when ordinary people make a decent living wage everyone benefits from the ice cream vendor to the car dealership etc.

The entire GOP philosophy of hating unions (which translates into their members) is out dated and should be rejected by the public. By the time Obama's 8 years are up hopefully American culture will have changed to admire union workers who have fought to expand the middle class.

[cultkicker]

Rep. Solis is a wonderful choice. I worry now about her district in So. Cal... who will replace her? She has been a champion of workers rights and environmental justice for a very long time.

[leonyc]

So far, I have been impressed with Obama's selections. However, I am concerned about Solis. The "Employee Free Choice Act" that she so passionately advocated not only removed the provision for a secret ballot, but some other provisions that can be truly, without exaggeration, bad for many bisinesses - big and small. Now more than ever, we need to make sure that our companies can be nimble and flexible. If the law were passed in the form that Solis advocated, it would lead to significant problems in some industries, and would make it even more difficult for many manufacturing companies to compete with the foreign and non-unionized firms. It is one of those laws that looks good on surface, but once you study the details you can see how thise law can be devastating for the US economy.

[Lagniappe]

Shame on ElaineCozy Relations with Anti-Union Ideologues: Elaine has been caught red-handed in her dealings with front groups and associates of Richard Berman, a virulent ...
shameonela­ine.org/co­rporate-gi­veaways/ - 32k - Cached - Similar pages

[lj9283]

Glad to see that the anti-labor forces don't like the pick.

[lj9283]

Oh, and just a point regarding your misinformation. Small business is not affected by this bill. Any business with less than 3.3 million in gross sales does NOT fall under the EFCA..

[Witchitalineman]

Sounds like a good choice. I really love the diversity that Obama is putting in place. Let's hope they are as competent as they sound.

[Soulsurfer]

Actually, we need her here in California to combat the repug onslaught of our hard won labor laws. We're going through a major budget battle, and the repugs have us in a dead lock. They won't pass a budget unless the Dems roll back mandatory breaks and lunch breaks during working shifts, and also the overtime pay laws. Why do repugs hate American workers so much?

[CaveatMagnusFrater]

We are not viewed as real people. We're un educated laborers who should be grateful that we are herded into productivity at all. We're also cannon fodder for oil wars.

[hortonhearsawho2]

the thought of labor repugs them...those that do the labor, well, ....

[Bluedog12]

Her first job should be an investigation into the corruption in the current DOL. The McConnell Chao cabal has done more harm to American workers than any other group in this nations history.

[Lagniappe]

CREW FORCES DEPT. OF LABOR TO RELEASE ANTI-UNION DOCS; DETAILS ...For example, the documents include correspondence showing that DOL Secretary Elaine Chao agreed to be profiled for one of Richard Berman’s many conservative ...
www.citizensforethics.org/node/19028 - 13k - Cached - Similar pages

[bdl0715]

It will be nice to have a SOL that actually cares about workers after the past 8 years.

[Okieborn]

Rep. Solis America Loves you !!!!
Help Is On The Way !!!!!