The announcement of Representative Hilda Solis as President-elect Obama's Secretary of Labor is great news for America's workers. Solis comes from a union family and has never forgotten her roots in her public service career. Her appointment is a win for the prospects of the Employee Free Choice Act and the economic future for the people of this country who get up and go to work every day. 

"Unions are vital to the health and strength of our communities, and our workers are the bedrock of our economy," Solis said in 2007 while advocating for the Employee Free Choice Act. "In this day and age when the number of women and new immigrants is increasing in the work force, it is important that they become a part of the American fabric and one of the ways is to be a member of a union."

The Democratic congresswoman was just elected to her fifth term representing heavily Hispanic portions of eastern Los Angeles County and east L.A. She is the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants and has been the only member of Congress of Central American descent.

Solis' father was a Teamsters shop steward.

"We're confident that she will return to the Labor Department one of its core missions — to defend workers' basic rights in our nation's workplaces," said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO.

On every issue that's important to working people, Hilda Solis has stood up for an America where everyone's hard work is valued and rewarded.  Congresswoman Solis does not just vote on behalf of workers, she is their unwavering and tireless voice.

Solis is 100 percent in labor's camp, and she won't need training wheels to get up-to-speed. What we don't know yet is how big a voice she will have when it comes to going toe-to-toe with the Commerce, Treasury and other Administration voices for business. A lot will depend on who she brings in below her to actually run the show...please, can we have competent people who actually can run big operations, as in that they've proven that they can.

Stand with our next Secretary of Labor and support the Employee Free Choice Act.