Repost from the Feminist Majority Foundation.
For Immediate Release:
January 11, 2013
Contact:
Kari Ross
Kari Ross
703.522.2214
Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation and Feminist Majority
Statement on the Departure of Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
The
Feminist Majority Foundation and Feminist Majority salute Secretary of
Labor Hilda Solis, the first Latina to head a major federal agency, for
her outstanding accomplishments in fighting for women workers and for
all workers. Solis' leadership was especially important at a time when
the United States was facing the worst recession since the Great
Depression and women workers were, for the first time, roughtly one-half
of the nation's paid workforce. She brought a unique Latina, feminist,
environmentalist and union perspective to the Department. Secretary
Solis made sure women workers were not forgotten as she worked to fight
for and support policies to create more jobs. Never forgetting her own
roots, she found passion for, believed in, and valued the common people
and their struggles for advancement as well as the importance of the
union movement for build the middle class.
Secretary
Solis was always on the front lines fighting for women workers. She
reinvigorated the Women's Bureau, reached out to women's organizations
fighting to increase employment opportunities for women and expanded
funding for community colleges that service millions of low income
women. In funding programs at community colleges, the Labor Department,
as Solis has stated, expanded "employer-specific" job training for
millions of people and "transformed" community colleges into an "engine
of economic growth."
Ms. Magazined heralded
Secretary Solis' appointment with a headline "New Sheriff in Town; the
First Latina to Head Labor will Enforce Fair Treatment for all U.S.
Workers." She did exactly that. The Labor Department, under her
leadership, enforced federal contract compliance regulations and wage
and hour regulations protecting workers, especially women, people of
color, low income individuals, and retirees. The Department Office of
Federal Contract Compliance Programs conducted an impressive number of
investigations and collected a record amount of back wages for workers
who had been denied overtime and leave benefits as well as pay owed them
by their employers. Moreover, the Labor Department under Solis
recorded some $5 billion for retirees and their families.
Solis,
a role model for equal employment, practiced what she preached. She
recruited and hired women and people of color to top leadership
positions in the Department, including her chief of staff, chief
economists, and as leaders of top bureaus, agencies and programs of the
department. Solis, in very difficult times, revived and greatly
strengthened the Department of Labor's legacy for improving workers'
rights and economic justice. The Feminist Majority and Feminist
Majority Foundation look forward to supporting her in new capacities as
she continues her work and passion for working women and men as well as
economic and social justice.
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