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Secretary of Labor

A Second Look: Shutting Out Solis

Feb 5th, 2009
by Tom.
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The Progress Report wrote:

Shutting Out Solis


From: The Progress Report [progress@americanprogressaction.org]
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 9:19 AM
To: tomc2322
Subject: Shutting Out Solis
A ‘PROXY FIGHT FOR EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE’: The right wing strongly opposes EFCA and any attempts to increase participation in unions, arguing that the bill unnecessary, “a threat to one of the fundamentals of democracy,” and an attempt to “Europeanize America.” Last month, Senate Republicans initially attempted to passive-aggressively bury Solis in paperwork, saying that they needed her to clarify her position on the Employee Free Choice Act. As CQ wrote on Jan. 29, “Although the written questionnaires don’t constitute an official hold on Solis’ nomination, the paperwork has the same delaying effect.” The New York Times similarly remarked, “The delay in confirming Ms. Solis isn’t because the Senate needs to know more. It’s a way for Republican senators to score tough-guy points with business constituents who are driven to distraction by the thought of unions.” Since that time, the right wing has gone all out to block her, now claiming that she is facing ethics issues. Earlier this week, the Heritage Foundation called her “The Next Tom Daschle,” and the National Review wrote, “While everyone is looking at Tom Daschle’s tax problems…a new issue has arisen concerning another Obama cabinet nomination, that of Rep. Hilda Solis to be Secretary of Labor.” According to The Hill, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) “has questioned whether Solis had done lobbying work while she was both a House member and an official at a pro-labor group, American Rights at Work” (ARAW). There is no conflict-of-issue problem here. Solis wasn’t paid for her activities with ARAW, and as the Washington Independent pointed out, her role was “well-known and ceremonial.” As one official at a union noted, these excuses to hold up Solis are nothing more than a “clear proxy fight for Employee Free Choice.”

The President should have whomever he wants in his Cabinet.
See here and here.

,,,,,,,,,

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A Second Look: Art Levine: GOP Blocks Obama’s Labor Nominee, Pushes Big Lie on “Card Check”

Jan 25th, 2009
by Tom.
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via Art Levine: GOP Blocks Obama’s Labor Nominee, Pushes Big Lie on “Card Check”.

Art Levine
Posted January 24, 2009 | 12:05 AM (EST)

Despite rising unemployment and a cratering economy, the GOP has placed a hold on the nomination of President Obama’s choice for Secretary of Labor, the pro-worker Hilda Solis. The issue at stake is the Employee Free Choice Act, which aims to give workers a level playing field by allowing workers to choose a majority sign-up approach, dubbed “card check” by anti-union flacks, for selecting a union — rather than keeping that option in the hands of employers.

Studies of hundreds of organizing campaigns have found that a fifth of all pro-union activists are fired during a campaign, half of all employers threaten to shut down their plant and roughly 80% of employers hire unionbusting consultants. Employers are still free under the proposed Employee Free Choice Act to hold intimidating one-on-one “sweat” sessions to legally discourage workers from joining a union. And, as I found out while going undercover to a unionbusting seminar, it’s equally legal for employers to just lie about the dire consequences facing workers if they join a union, from closed plants to somehow losing seniority and benefits. That’s the system the Employee Free Choice Act was designed to reform, by increasing penalties for corporate lawbreaking, allowing employees to choose the majority sign-up approach but still retaining the employees’ rights to hold a secret-ballot NLRB election if they want.

Even so, the right wing and the GOP have launched a high-profile smear campaign claiming, falsely, that the bill takes away the right to a secret ballot. Based on that lie, GOP leaders , with the help of an anonymous Republican Senator who has put a hold on Solis’s nomination, are trying to force the Obama administration and any wavering Democratic Senators into backing away from the Employee Free Choice Act. But the Obama administration and leaders in Congress still support the legislation, even if they’re not launching a full-court press to push the bill right now, because the economic recovery package is the top priority.

The President of the United States is one of the most ardent supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act. Please join President Barack Obama and the SEIU in support of this vital legislation that will bring the working poor into the middle class.

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A Second Look: Card check issue stalls panel’s vote on nominee – Las Vegas Sun w/UPDATE! Speak up for Hilda Solis on Facebook!

Jan 23rd, 2009
by Tom.
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via Card check issue stalls panel’s vote on nominee – Las Vegas Sun.

Republicans want to know how Solis stands on bill they oppose, unions want badly

From the Las Vegas Sun
By Lisa Mascaro
Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (2 a.m.)

Rep. Hilda Solis

Washington — President Barack Obama’s nominee for Labor secretary is running into fierce resistance from Republicans over her reluctance to state her views clearly on legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize.

The nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis has yet to be approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — even though her confirmation hearing two weeks ago was among the first for Obama’s cabinet picks.

The committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, has been pressing for more detailed responses to questions posed on several issues, including the Employee Free Choice Act or card check bill.

Look, Solis is for the bill. It is so obvious it hurts. The Republicans are pushing for an inquisition. They already know how she stands on the Employee Free Choice Act. She’s for it.

Solis has a strong reputation as a friend of labor — her father was a Teamster, and as a congresswoman, she marched on the picket line during a high-profile grocery-store picket line in her Southern California congressional district.

She voted for the Employee Free Choice Act in the House in 2007. The bill later died in the Senate but is being resurrected in this Congress.

Republicans need to remember that her position is called Secretary of Labor, not Secretary of Business. The Labor Department may have been hacks for Bush’s corporate state, but now it must return to its original form – protection of Labor interests.

UPDATE! 1/28/09 from the AFL-CIO Now blog:

Rep. Hilda Solis

With unemployment at the highest level in decades, Senate Republicans are saying they will hold a vote on the nomination of a key Cabinet member in the fight to restore jobs in this ailing economy. Some conservative lawmakers are vowing to hold up a vote on Rep. Hilda Solis’ (D-Calif.) confirmation as labor secretary because of their opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, which she supports.

Solis backers have created two Facebook groups in support of her nomination: ”Americans for Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor,” and “1,000,000 Strong For Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor“—and each has some 300 members who signed up in the past few days. The groups give information on how to contact your senators to urge that Solis be confirmed. Sign up for both is open to any Facebook member.

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