Obama’s Labor Secretary Steps Into Union Fight In Wisconsin

President Obama is staying mostly quiet about the union battle going on in Wisconsin. His labor secretary, Hilda Solis, not so much…

From The Washington Examiner:

President Obama is staying mostly quiet about the union battle going on in Wisconsin. His labor secretary, Hilda Solis, is not.

"The fight is on!" Solis told a cheering crowd at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting over the weekend in Washington. Giving her support to "our brothers and sisters in public employee unions," Solis pledged aid to unionized workers who are "under assault" in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

It's no surprise Solis sympathizes with the unions against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's budget reform proposal. After all, Solis often tells audiences how proud she is that her father was a Teamsters shop steward and her mother belonged to the United Steelworkers union. "Admittedly, I am a little biased," she told the DNC, "because ... I come from a union household."

But is it the role of the secretary of labor to take sides in a fight that pits public employee union members against workers and taxpayers who support Walker's reforms? After all, the Labor Department mission statement says its purpose is "to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States." It doesn't say anything about unionized wage earners, job seekers, and retirees.

Last time I checked, it is not the job of the Sec. of Labor to be either pro or anti unions. It is their job to be sure that all workers, union or not are treated the same under the law. Nothing more or less, but it seems that in this current administration, public sector unions get preferential treatment.

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