MD State Fed President Says Perez Can Bring Labor, Biz Together
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
A top union leader who worked closely with Thomas Perez,
President Barack Obama’s nominee to be the nation’s next Secretary of Labor,
says Perez can bring labor and progressive firms together, as Perez did in
Maryland. Creating such alliances is one reason Perez “was a great
secretary” of Labor, Licensing and Regulation in Maryland, adds Fred D. Mason
Jr., president of the Maryland-D.C. AFL-CIO, the umbrella organization for the
state’s unions. “Plus, he understands workers’ rights are human rights,
and he’s a human rights advocate,” Mason adds of Perez, whom he worked with
for years.
On March 18, Obama named Perez, now
assistant attorney general for civil rights, to succeed Hilda Solis in the U.S.
Labor Department’s top job. Solis left on Jan. 5. Perez held
Maryland’s labor post from 2006-2009, before the Justice Department
post. He was in Justice’s Civil Rights Division before, and was a
Montgomery County, Md. councilmember – the first Latino member of the council
– from 2002-2006.
Mason said
Perez was not only “very capable, but he understands federal, state and local
government” and forged “good relationships” with unions. Perez
served under pro-worker Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), a potential 2016 Democratic
presidential hopeful.
Perez also forged relationships with
business, Mason said. He understands “you need to compromise” to get
pro-worker measures through legislatures. Compromise has been notably
lacking in the Nation’s Capitol, at least as far as Congress’ ruling
Republicans are concerned.
One top initiative Perez and
Mason worked on together was to convince the Maryland legislature to crack down
on employers who misclassify workers as “independent contractors,” depriving
them of rights and benefits and the state of tax revenue. The other was to
shift adult job training programs from the state Education Department – which
concentrates on K-12 schools – to the Labor Department, and to fund
them. Perez also revived budgets for state labor law enforcement, Mason
said.
Perez “understands the American economy and the
role businesses have in it,” Mason explains. “But he insists workers
have value and it should be respected.” And Perez believes “it would
be a mistake to put all businesses in” an anti-worker box.
“Tom, because of his studied and deliberate approach” to individual issues,
“will identify employers who want to move forward” and work with unions and
workers, Mason says.
Jeff Buddle, a vice president of the
Maryland Fire Fighters and president of IAFF Local 1664 in Montgomery County,
agreed.
Perez “was a champion” of Fire Fighters and
other protective service workers while on the county council, Buddle said.
“He was always one of our biggest supporters, finding money not just for
staffing, but for apparatus, too. I can’t think of any instance where we
were disappointed” by Perez’ stands.
But Right Wing
Southern Senate Republicans are already criticizing Perez’ civil rights
record, showing labor may have to mobilize to help him get the DOL
job. One, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., is threatening a filibuster
because, he says, Perez’ civil rights division did not stand up for white
Louisiana voters.
- By Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff Writer