Workers Welcome Solis To Labor Dept

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

“We’ve waited eight years and one month for this,” AFGE Local 12 President Alex Bastani told Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, “You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Hundreds of Department of Labor (DOL) workers turned out Wednesday morning to welcome the new Secretary - who was confirmed late Tuesday afternoon - on her first day of work. Sustained applause and enthusiastic cheers erupted when Solis arrived and workers crowded around as she worked her way toward the DOL entrance, shaking hands and embracing DOL employees as they greeted her under a big banner proclaiming “Welcome to the U.S. Department of Labor.” “It’s like one of our good managers said,” a widely smiling Bastani told Union City, “Now we can get to the work.”
- report/photo by Chris Garlock; AFGE 12 President Alex Bastani (r) & NCFLL President Ron Yarman (center) welcome Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to the DOL