Solis Labor Day Message Focuses on Jobs

September 1, 2010 - AFL-CIO NOW! Blog - By Mike Hall

In a Labor Day video message (also available in Spanish here) for America’s workers, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says that in her travels around the country, “Many of you have told me you want an America that ‘produces things again.”

But more than anything else, no matter where I go and who I talk to, you’ve told me: “We need jobs.”

“In the cities and towns I’ve been to this past year, I’ve never once heard working people—or people who need and want work—demand special treatment.  Americans don’t want a hand out . . . they just want a level playing field with clear rules, an opportunity to work hard, and a fair chance to provide for their families and  get ahead.”

In this first-ever Labor Department video message for Labor Day, she outlines the steps the Obama administration has taken to reverse “the dangerous trend of job loss in our country, because just over a year ago we were losing almost 700,000 jobs a month.”

She also warns that in the coming months “policy makers will be debating what should come next.”

There are some who will suggest that when times are tough, it’s time to get tough on working people.  They’ll suggest that we cut back on worker training, to cut back on worker safety . . . and to cut back on giving workers a voice in their workplace.

I totally disagree.

She reiterates her strong support for workers’ freedom to form unions.

And to those who want to deny workers a voice in the workplace, let me be clear: This Secretary of Labor recognizes respects and celebrates a workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively.

Solis also encourages workers to speak directly with her through a new worker outreach effort at talktosolis@dol.gov

On Labor Day, Solis will join President Obama and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka at Milwaukee’s annual Laborfest.