CWA Applauds Selection of Representative Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary

Contact: Jeff Miller or Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, jmiller@cwa-union.org and cjohnson@cwa-union.org

Washington, D.C. -- President-elect Barack Obama has made an outstanding choice in naming Representative Hilda Solis as the next Secretary of Labor, the Communications Workers of America said.

Representative Solis is a tremendous supporter of workers' rights and the Employee Free Choice Act, which is critical to repairing our broken labor law, said CWA President Larry Cohen.

CWA members also know her as a strong advocate for justice and fairness, especially for women and immigrant workers, one who not only joins workers on the picket line but moves workers' issues through Congress.

"Representative Solis knows first hand what happens when working people try to have a union voice under our current system. She's stood with the workers at the Chinese Daily News who were abused, harassed and illegally fired by their employer when they voted for union representation in 2001. And she continues to support the Chinese Daily News workers as they try to get the justice they've been denied through the court system," Cohen said.

When 400 certified court interpreters in Los Angeles County were forced to strike in 2007, Representative Solis was on their side, not only to support their fight for fairness but to support their cause to ensure that non-English speaking participants in the court process – parents, witnesses, victims, defendants – had qualified interpretation to make their way through the justice system, Cohen noted.  

"Finally, after eight years of Labor Department leadership that routinely followed big business interests and ignored the rights and safety of American workers, a woman with a long history of standing up for workers will be working to restore the agency to its original mission," Cohen said.

Representative Solis also is a leading proponent of quality, green jobs.

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The Communications Workers of America represents 700,000 workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. It's one of America's fastest growing unions. CWA members work in communications, media, airlines, manufacturing and public service.