Hilda Solis deflects Republican questions over union issues
Solis, at a confirmation hearing on her nomination to be Labor secretary, avoids being drawn into a fight over matters such as a bill on 'card check' union enrollment, which she sponsored.
Reporting from Washington — Senate Republicans spent much of this morning trying to draw Barack Obama's choice for Labor secretary, Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte), into a fight over union issues.
But she gave them little ammunition, repeatedly refusing to express her opinion on hotly contested issues such as organizing rights. And at the end of her relatively brief confirmation hearing, Solis' nomination did not appear to be endangered.
Republicans are concerned that Solis, a strong supporter of unions in her eight years in the House, will bring a pro-union bias to the Labor Department.
"This is a very important position," said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah.). "It can't be used to magnify one side over the other or any side over the other. It has to be handled fairly."
Hatch, however, said he would support Solis' nomination.
Republicans are particularly wary of a bill called the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to form bargaining units. Solis was a co-sponsor of the bill, which passed the House in 2007 but stalled in the Senate.
The legislation -- know as the "card check" bill because it would allow workers to simply fill out a card to indicate their interest in joining a union rather than vote in a secret election -- is likely to be taken up again in the House in coming weeks.
"Card check is a huge issue," said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). "I am so concerned with skewing the relationship between labor and management."
But Solis refused to express her support for the bill, instead repeatedly telling senators that she had not talked with Obama on the issue and could not speak for the incoming administration.
While a senator, Obama was a co-sponsor of the card-check bill. If the measure is again passed by the House and reaches the Senate, it's likely to face a Republican filibuster.
Solis also was pressed by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) about preserving "right to work" laws in states such as his that prohibit employers from requiring workers to be members of a union or to pay dues as condition of employment.
But Solis told Alexander she was "not qualified" to give him a response on the issue, except to say that she believed "that the president-elect feels strongly that American workers should have a choice to join or not to join a union. And to me that is the basic premise of our democracy, whether you want to be associated with a group or not."
