Solis Meets with Workers in First Public Appearance

by James Parks, Mar 3, 2009

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney take part in a union-sponsored community event in Miami.

In her first public appearance after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis vowed to fully enforce the laws that protect workers–unlike her predecessor who declared war on working people for eight years. Solis, who was one of the first supporters in Congress for the Employee Free Choice Act, also said she would work to pass and then enforce the legislation if it becomes law. Solis, whose parents both belonged to unions, spoke at a community forum at a local church in Miami’s inner city last night on the eve of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting.

Saying “there’s a new sheriff in town,” Solis told 700 union and community activists in the audience that one of the Obama administration’s top priorities is to provide protection for workers in the workplace. Solis added that she would work with employers to help workers get family-supporting jobs.

If you take care of an employee, that employee will produce. Productivity by our workforce, especially union members, has increased. But we don’t see the same value in terms of their wages going up. So there has to be some morality placed there.

Solis heard from several rank-and-file workers, including Natanael Aburto, a painter for the local school system. He told her he and his wife dream of owning their own home some day, but he is afraid that he soon might not have a job.

Hector Capote, a member of the Communications Workers of America, described how he and his co-workers worked to form a union at AT&T Wireless. The company agreed to recognize the union after a majority of workers signed union cards. The proposed Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to choose how they want to form a union, a decision that now rests with the employer.

Introducing the new labor secretary, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney praised Solis as the “only labor secretary in recent memory from a working family, union background.”

We know she does not plan to be a secretary of the bosses or the CEOs. I say the same thing about the secretary as I have said about Barack Obama: I trust Barack Obama. I believe what he told us during the campaign are promises that he’s going to stick to, whether it’s healthcare, financial security, employee free choice, education. The list is long.

Solis will meet privately today with the AFL-CIO Executive Council, and Vice President Joe Biden will meet with the council on Thursday.

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