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New Labor Secretary Tours IBEW Training Facility

March 9, 2009

Newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis met with union leaders and toured an IBEW training facility March 3 as part of her effort to reach out to workers amid staggering employment cuts nationwide.

Solis also met with IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill and other members of the AFL-CIO executive council. She took questions and advanced her message of job growth, unionization and the protection of the American dream.

“Many of our friends here in the labor movement are ready to step up to the plate and be a partner with us once again to help reinvigorate our local communities,” Solis told a crowd gathered outside Miami Local 349’s hall.

Flanked by an entourage of TV cameras and reporters, Solis, President Hill, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Local 349 Business Manager and Fourth District IEC Member Bill Riley later walked across the street to visit apprentices in Local 349’s training program. Solis met individually with all 25 second-year wiremen apprentices and other IBEW members, discussing concerns about the economy and the administration’s plans to shore up job opportunities and enforce labor laws.

 “She was very interested in what the workers had to say about the benefits of the apprenticeship program,” said journeyman wireman Lesa Johnson, who works as a quality assurance technician for Seimens. “Secretary Solis was very sincere and real with us. It was clear that she really listened to our concerns as members of the labor movement.”

Business Manager Riley said that Solis’ visit was a harbinger of better things to come for American workers and unions.

“You really get the feeling that there’s a new sheriff in town,” said Riley. “There’s a fresh attitude in the Labor Department. Hilda Solis shares our values and truly has the working people of this country in her heart. She’s knows firsthand what it means to grow up with the union on your side, and I believe she’s going to do everything in her power to make sure every worker in this country has a good wage and a voice on the job.”

Solis will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden March 5 for further meetings with AFL-CIO leaders as they begin to chart a robust push for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. President Barack Obama, Biden and Solis are all strong supporters of the proposed measure, which would give workers an easier path toward unionization.

The daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico and Nicaragua, Solis’ union pedigree – and commitment to workers’ rights – is strong. Her father was a Teamster shop steward in Los Angeles, and her mother was a member of the United Rubber Workers who spent 22 years on an assembly line for Mattel, Inc.

“My vision of the Department of Labor is rooted in who I am,” Solis told senators at her January confirmation hearing. “My father’s membership in the union helped my family have benefits and security, even in tough times.”

Serving in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009, Solis was a faithful advocate for environmental and labor justice. She received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000, following years of service in the California State Senate.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Solis as Labor Secretary February 24 by an 80-17 vote. Solis is the first Hispanic woman to attain the position.

“For the first time in a long time, we can expect the Department of Labor to live out its mission – to help the working men and women of this country attain a better quality of living,” President Hill said.

To See Hour Power’s coverage of the Secretary’s visit, click here...