DETROIT – The UAW released this statement today in support of President Obama’s nomination of Thomas E. Perez to be the next labor secretary:
“We support President Obama’s nomination of Thomas Perez as head of the U.S. Department of Labor to replace outgoing Secretary Hilda Solis – and pleased that if confirmed, he would be the first Latino to join the president’s second-term Cabinet.”
“As head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Perez is an American immigration success story whose history would certainly help him address the issues as secretary of labor. The son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Perez helped put himself through college by working as a trash collector and in a warehouse. He knows what it means to work hard to get ahead.”
“Under his leadership of the Civil Rights Division, he has challenged harmful voter ID laws in South Carolina and Texas. In addition, his work thwarted the systematic attempts to block the poor, students, elderly and minorities from exercising their constitutional right to cast a ballot in the 2012 elections. As a Harvard-educated civil rights attorney who has been aggressive on immigration issues, Perez also will play a key role in the administrations’ efforts to raise the minimum wage.”
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