Hilda Solis' belief in unions runs deep
President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to head the U.S. Labor Department sees her parents' membership as key to the success she and her siblings have achieved.
Her father came from Mexico and was a Teamster who worked at a battery recycling plant. Her mother is from Nicaragua and had a union job on a Mattel assembly line.
Rep. Hilda Solis, the daughter of immigrants who lives in a modest home in El Monte not far from where she was raised, takes her first step to almost certain confirmation as U.S. secretary of Labor today at a Senate hearing.
In eight years as a lawmaker in Sacramento and eight years in Congress, Solis has been an advocate for low-wage workers, particularly immigrants, and for organized labor.
Solis, 51, has a master's in public administration from USC and an undergraduate degree from Cal Poly Pomona, and has made her career in government. But her understanding of labor and immigration is not academic.
In a speech last year, Solis credited unions for her family's success. "Without the help, protection that we received, and retirement benefits, I know myself and my [six] siblings would not be where they are today," she said.
Her ascent reflects labor's strength in Southern California and the influence of immigrants, especially Latinos, within a union movement that was crucial to electing Barack Obama to the White House.
"What we are looking at in Southern California today is the United States in 2040," said UC Berkeley professor Harley Shaiken, a labor historian.
Obama has made a point of appointing moderates to his Cabinet. Solis would be one of the most liberal members.
As Labor secretary, she would oversee a $10.5-billion budget and enforcement of workplace laws, a prospect that worries business leaders.
"She didn't win our Spirit of Enterprise Award," quipped Randy Johnson, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive.
Former state Sen. Ray Haynes, a Republican who tangled with Solis when she headed a budget subcommittee, called her "a committed liberal in the pockets of labor."
As Congress opens, labor issues are at the forefront. One bill would make it easier for victims of pay discrimination to sue. Solis pressed for pay equity legislation more than a decade ago. A bill that Solis co-sponsored last year would make it easier for unions to organize workers.
Backed by unions, Solis won her congressional seat in 2000 by knocking off an incumbent Democrat who had run afoul of labor by voting for the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- Labor's fresh face Dec 19, 2008
- Obama to name pro-union Rep. Hilda Solis to Labor post Dec 19, 2008
- Solis sworn in as Labor secretary Mar 14, 2009
