Responding to repeated questions about the proposed law, labor\'s #1 priority for the Democratic-run 111th Congress, Solis reiterated that both she and Obama backed it in the past. But asked by senators, most of them Republicans, about when she would push it, she replied that she had yet to discuss the legislation with the president-elect.

On that and on other pointed labor issues, her repeated reply was a variation of "I\'ll get back to you."

As for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would level the playing field between workers and bosses in organizing and bargaining, she reiterated that "The president-elect believes workers should have a choice on whether to join a union" without committing herself to a specific method for doing so.

Nevertheless, senators from both parties backed her, indicating she\'ll have clear sailing to take over the 17,000-worker agency that she called "one of the largest civil rights agencies" in the federal government, as it administers workforce justice programs.

"We are in a crisis situation and the public demands action from Congress right now to see relief provided" on the economy, she told supportive committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. Beyond that, she said she would "work hard every day to make sure middle-class families do not lose hope."

The department\'s priorities and its administration would come "first and foremost" before EFCA, Solis flatly told Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Her priorities would include workforce training, particularly for jobs in the "green economy" that wouldn\'t be outsourced overseas. After that would come increased enforcement to ensure "workers get the pay they earned, working in safe, healthy and fair workplaces."

That\'s a direct jab at the departing GOP Bush regime, where DOL enforcement – except in pursuing unions – has drastically fallen. The Bush Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued only one new rule in Bush\'s 8-year reign, and DOL\'s Wage and Hour Division, which pursues unpaid wages and overtime, has fewer inspectors than it had at its creation in 1941.

Her other priorities would be to tackle "the crisis in retirement security." That point prompted Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, to note that many firms that eliminated old-style guaranteed "defined benefit" pension plans for workers --- in favor of 401(k)s and the like – had defined-benefit-like guarantees for bosses. He wants Solis to support legislation saying any firm with such guarantees for bosses must also have an old-style pension plan for workers. Solis said, again she "would take a good look at it."

And her fourth priority would be increased enforcement of labor laws, across the board. "The Labor Department\'s message should be clear and simple: No unjust barrier should keep any worker from achieving the American dream," Solis said.

But on specific issues, Solis repeatedly pledged to investigate them and get back to Congress, without making a for-or-against commitment. Some included:

Repeal of section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act, which lets states pass right-to-work laws. Sen. Lamar Alexander, D-Tenn., raised it in the context of the non-union Nissan auto plant in his state and the then-Saturn unionized GM plant. While Solis again said she would get back to him: "I\'m not qualified to address that at this time. I have not discussed it with the president-elect." But she pointedly told Alexander that without the UAW at Saturn, the wages at the Nissan plant probably would have been much lower.

Overtime pay versus flextime. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., noted Solis, as a California state senator pushed through legislation giving workers and firms the choice, but only after a secret-ballot vote among the workers on the issue. The GOP and its big business backers are waving the "secret ballot" flag in their campaign against the Employee Free Choice Act.

"My nomination doesn\'t afford me the ability to provide you with an opinion on that at this time," Solis said. "The right to organize and a secret ballot are critical and I want your opinion on that before we vote on confirmation," Isakson shot back.

Reinvigoration of the Women\'s Bureau and more training for nurses so they can step right into vacancies, as part of the stimulus package. Both issues were raised by en. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. Nurses unions say there\'s not only a shortage of nurses but a shortage of nursing school instructors.

As Solis testified, she picked up more union support. The latest backer was Teamsters President James Hoffa. Solis\' father was Teamster shop steward and her mother was a UAW member while working at a Mattel toy factory. Solis "has always been a champion of workers. She knows that restoring balance to an economy that favors excessive profits over workplace fairness and commitment to community is the only way out of our economic crisis," Hoffa said.

Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.