Feb 25 2009
Solis confirmed at Labor
Somewhat lost in all the excitement over President Obama’s first address to Congress last evening was the news that Hilda Solis was finally confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Labor. The Republicans were doing all they could to delay and even possibly derail her nomination due to her pro-labor beliefs. She is the complete ideological opposite of Elaine Chao, George W. Bush’s Secretary of Labor. (Ms. Chao was the only cabinet member to serve throughout both of Mr. Bush’s terms and is the wife of Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.)
Solis Confirmed as Labor Secretary
Hilda SolisThe Senate this afternoon confirmed Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) as labor secretary, more than two months after she was nominated for the post by President Obama.
The Senate voted 80 to 17 to confirm Solis, after Senate Republicans today assured Democrats that they would not filibuster the nomination. Solis had come under fire from Senate Republicans, who thought she was unresponsive to many of their questions during her confirmation hearing, a situation that was compounded by her work as treasurer for American Rights at Work, a pro-labor group.
There were also concerns among some Republicans about her support for a measure that would make it easier for workers to organize unions.
Consideration of Solis’s nomination was further delayed when it was revealed that her husband had recently paid about $6,400 to settle tax liens against his California auto repair business.
While Solis’s nomination generated skepticism among many Republicans and their backers in the business community, the new labor secretary enjoys solid support among members of organized labor. The daughter of immigrants from Mexico and Nicaragua, both of Solis’s parents were union members. Also, as a member of Congress, Solis has shared union skepticism toward free trade agreements, and been a strong proponent of developing jobs in renewal energy and other “green collar” areas.
“America’s working men and women will be fortunate to have someone of Hilda’s tremendous talents leading the Department of Labor. She knows the huge challenges facing workers and their families, and she has the experience and dedication needed for this vital position,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. ” It’s been a privilege to work with her in Congress, and I look forward very much to working with her as secretary.”
Labor leaders applauded Solis’s confirmation.
UPDATE: Here are the 17 Republicans who voted against our new Secretary of Labor: Bond (R-MO), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Coburn (R-OK), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Inhofe (R-OK), Kyl (R-AZ), Risch (R-ID), Roberts (R-KS), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA) and Wicker (R-MS).
15 Responses to “Solis confirmed at Labor”
Wow, a pro-Labor person as the Secretary of Labor? What a shock!
I think you meant to say pro-Union. The only group that is not pro-Labor are the Japanese robots.
@U.S. Common Sense : Nope. Typed what I meant. And why are you referring to Republicans as Japanese robots?
Solis is pro-illegal labor, not so much American labor. And she’s owned by the mob, sorry, I mean the unions.
@Jenn : She is also now Secretary of Labor. Ha. Ha. Ha.
(Your bitterness and hatred never surprise me, by the way.)
Hmm – who wulda thunk a socialist President would nominate a socialist laborer supporter as labor secretary?
@The BoBo :
Oh, I dunno… you?
a disclaimer: not all Oklahomans are as stupid as their Senators.
Great to see her nomination was confirmed!
I think her appointment is a positive step. For too long unions have been the favorite target of so many.
@Rich – That is because the smaller unions yield the media attention to the large unions, the ones that are corrupt and hurting our economy. I would love to see Obama come out with legislation that would limit the size and scope of unions. I believe the smaller the union, the better attention the heads of the union will pay towards their members, as well as the more willingness both the union and the company would have toward dealing with each other. There are some companies that currently have internal unions with a liaison position that resides on the corporate level. This is probably the most ideal form of a union if a union is to exist at all.
Oddly, this is the first place that I heard about her confirmation too. Nothing against you reporting it, but what about the big media types? I’ve been listening to radio, scouring the internet and thumbing through the newspaper, but there is nothing about Solis’ appointment anywhere. Anyway, thanks for sharing and informing!
So does this mean that “union” janitors will soon be coming on to future bankrupt companies (because of the employee expense), starting at $300.00@hr?
Methinks the next 4 years will see the second wave of corporations leaving the USA to escape the Sicilian Mafia Union wage and benefits extortion… LOL
My father was a “union man” for General Dynamics, and the criminal element that ran his hall across the street was saddening. I would tell you true stories, but everyone would call me a liar. Ya know, nail bombs in the parking lots at the company, scabs having their houses burned down, all that good “union stuff”. LOL
@Heresy Today : I myself was a union member for about 20 years. In fact, I held several offices within our local. I never saw or even heard of anything like you describe and I sure as heck never made anywhere near $300/hr.
This was, by the way, a rather large international union. You would definitely know it if I were to tell you the name.
Like most things in life, peoples’ experiences differ, I guess.
@Len :
My father worked for General Dynamics for 40 years as an “Electronics Technician”. His union hall was right across the street from the plant in Pomona, California. It was the IAMAW (International Association Of Machinists & Aerospace Workers) They were overseen by the AFL-CIO.
This was in the 70’s, and every coupe of years there was a strike over their contract. And at age 8, I remember clear as a bell, helping make the “nail bombs” in the back of the union hall. We nailed all the nails in half way, and the adults taped “half-sticks” to the boards after we were done. It was quite the family affair indeed! The machinists had built a “jig” with three boards that laid out where the nails went, and left a space for the dynamite.
They explained to us what they were, and how they worked, we sat in lawn chairs across the street and watched as the adults drove a truck around the fenceline throwing them into the parking lot, to do damage to the “scabs” cars. We laughed, and thought it was just another 4th of July.
I remember a large board on the wall of “scabs”.
Their names, addresses, car makes/models/lic# Where their wives worked (if they did) where their children went to school. The top of the list was “King Scab”. He was the very first hourly employee to cross the line after the strike. His house was burned to the ground, I remember, because the adults verified it during the process of making the bombs. (Bombs to the adults, to us kids, they were just “firecracker toys”)
I remember myself and a few other kids beating up some of the scabs kids outside of their schools, we were driven there, the kid(s) were pointed out, we beat them, and then told them what we were told to afterwords.
“If your dad goes to work tomorrow, we will come back here to get you tomorrow.”
It was fun, I loved every minute of it. I and other kids were making the adults happy, we got free soup and sandwiches everyday at the union hall, we got to take off from school to help staple cardboard signs to plywood sticks, tape the signs to peoples trucks, post them around the plant on the fences, it was indeed a “family affair”…
Years later, I looked back, and in the wisdom of my later years, I realized it was not only wrong, but criminal. I was an unknowing part of violence that was not called for, and I am quite ashamed, but at 8 yrs. old, did I know better?
Do I support “unions”? Yes. But like other areas it needs more “oversight”, just like the banks, and the finance industry, just like everything else, it needs “regulation”, rules, third-party monitoring.
I remember that my fathers biggest issue was with “Seniority”, the company could fire the whole lot, and start over again with new employees if they chose, they always fought over that issue, as well as pay (cost of living increases), and benefits.
Unions serve a purpose, but when that purpose drives the company that has been unionized to raise their retail prices through the roof to make up for the overhead, who wins? Not the poor fools that have to pay for the raise in retail price.
Look at automobiles, they are way overpriced, and they have to sell them at the current costs, to keep up the profit margin they are used to. Is that “profit margin” possibly too much? Could the automakers live with less profit? Maybe. But would their “stockholders” live with it?
You can’t say there is zero corruption in the unions, because you would be denying historic facts in record, that are verified not only by the DOJ, but also the unions themselves when caught.
Are ALL unions subject to the type of behavior I WITNESSED and PARTICIPATED IN, in the 70’s? Probably not, but some do! I myself was a “Teamster” at one time when I lived in Las Vegas in the early 90’s, I know what was done, how, and why. It happens, not everywhere, but it still happens.
Oversight would get rid of the “bad apples” that give the “union worker” such a bad name. Unions can and will serve the worker, when they do just that, and THAT ALONE! When the union starts to “serve itself” more than the worker, then yes, it has become a problem.
Look at Wal-Mart. If it unionizes, I stop shopping there on the first day it does. Why? Prices MUST go up to cover the increased overhead. I am poor, I MUST shop where the prices are the least, I have no choice. Many are just like me. Wal-Mart unionizes, it loses a huge chunk of its customer base on day one, that is just simple “social class math”, and Wal-Mart knows it…
“Oversight” is the key to EVERYTHING in the USA, it is what we have been lacking for too long! I lived in California just 4 years ago, I was in San Diego during the rolling blackouts, I remember the energy crisis there (though there never was one, it was all a scam), and that too would have never happened if the industry had not been “deregulated’ earlier in the years!
Unions are good, as long as they are in it for the “good” of the worker ALONE.
Weed out the crooks, and the labor issues in the USA will change… “Change” is needed indeed, and that change needs to be brought to the DNC’s biggest campaign contributors that keep them running a crooked game out of “quid quo pro” necessity…
The Unions.
“Moderation”? LOL
Too many characters in the post??? My “longwindedness” came back to bite me!
@Heresy Today :
Yep, sure did.