In Letter to AFSCME, Solis Thanks Public Employees for Their Hard Work
by Hilda L. Solis, United States Secretary of Labor | September 03, 2012
This Labor Day, U.S. Secretary of Labor tells workers “there’s no challenge we can’t overcome.”
Brothers and sisters –
Today, I want to extend my warmest wishes to you, the members of AFSCME: the nurses who care for our sick, the sanitation workers who keep our communities clean, the cafeteria workers who feed our kids, and the librarians who nourish our minds. Thank you for your commitment, your talent, your hard work, and your service to this country. On behalf of everyone at the Department of Labor, I'm honored to wish all of you a great Labor Day.
Labor Day is the celebration of a promise fulfilled. For generations, the promise of good jobs, fair treatment and wages, and a seat at the bargaining table has sustained the economic security of America’s vital middle class.
Labor Day is also a call to action, a reminder that we must defend that promise to ensure that dignity and opportunity remain the birthright of all workers in this country. It reminds us that workers’ rights, income equality, and an economy rooted in the basic American values of fairness and freedom are the backbone of an America built to last.
We know what’s at stake, and we know what we have to do.
We've come so far in the last three and a half years, but we've still got a long way to go. Over the last 29 months, we've created 4.5 million jobs. We must continue to get people back to work. President Obama understands that communities depend on the vital services you provide. He has called for investments that will fix our crumbling roads, bridges, airports and schools; prevent more layoffs of teachers and first responders; and keep more police and firefighters on the beat.
American workers still want and need a seat at the table. Collective bargaining rights give them that seat. Last year, I was privileged to meet Deanna Vizi, a child care worker from Ohio who embodies AFSCME’s commitment to high-quality public service. I was so inspired by Deanna’s work that I invited her to the White House to share her story of organizing child care workers through AFSCME. She said that organizing made her a better caregiver – a powerful reminder that when workers have a voice, the whole community benefits.
With her courage and her commitment, Deanna keeps alive the legacy of those who came before – AFSCME leaders like Joe Warren, one of the leaders of the Memphis sanitation workers strike of 1968, who passed away in July. We mourn his loss, but we push on, inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who died supporting the sanitation workers’ struggle: “whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity, it has dignity. And it has worth.”
For me, this Labor Day has added meaning. My dad, who was a proud union member, passed away this year. When I was in ninth grade, he would come home and ask me to sit with him at our kitchen table. From his pockets, he pulled pieces of paper with writing in Spanish on them. They were scribbled messages from co-workers: safety grievances, questions about paychecks that didn't add up, and ideas about how to improve the productivity of the line.
He'd ask me to translate them into English. When I asked what they were, he explained: “They are the voice of the workers.” It was from him, as a young girl, that I learned about the critical need for workers to have a seat at the table.
Today, I honor his memory with a call for unity and strength – a commitment to keep building our achievements to meet the urgent needs of working families.
One thing is certain: the promise of the great American worker will never be broken. Working together, there's no challenge we can't overcome.
Respectfully,
Hilda L. Solis
