Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers of America, issued the following statement after Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced her resignation.
"On behalf of the United Farm Workers union, I want to thank Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis for her tireless work protecting and defending the well-being of all the men and women who toil in the fields.
Throughout her career, as a legislator and head of the U.S. Department of Labor, Ms. Solis has worked in collaboration with the United Farm Workers to bring basic protections and dignity to one of the most vulnerable segments of our society.
As Secretary of Labor, one of the first things she did was to reverse the Bush Administration’s last-minute regulation changes to the nation’s H2A agricultural guest worker program. The changes made it easier for growers to slash the pay of domestic farm workers, reduce housing benefits and hire imported foreign laborers instead of U.S. field workers. The move ensured that the rights of both foreign guest workers and domestic workers in agriculture were respected.
Early last year, Ms. Solis honored the contributions of farm workers by inducting the pioneers of the farm worker movement into the Labor Hall of Honor at the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters in Washington D.C.
Her replacement will have big shoes to fill, but we hope President Barack Obama appoints a successor who shares the same vision and leadership and continues the work she started of strengthening American Workers."