A Historic Opportunity: Hilda Solis and the Financial Crisis

The many privileges that we take for granted today such as social security, civil rights, workers rights (Wagner Act), the clean air and clean water acts, minimum wage etc. weren't just handed down to us by a benevolent leadership in either the executive branch or the congress. All the rights, privileges, and benefits worth having were fought for and won in America through grassroots mobilization that both pressured leadership and created a buffer for sympathetic constituencies in our government to get the courage, will, and vision to implement those progressive policies. Today, we find ourselves facing an economic crisis that is similar in magnitude to the Great Depression. With any severe economic crisis comes not only social turmoil, fear, and hardship, but also opportunity. Which social or political forces seize that opportunity, and exercise power in the time of crisis, is up to a few people in positions of power and the mobilized citizenry that holds them accountable. New Deal legislation passed during the Great Depression is a testament to what can happen when working class Americans take advantage of a major opportunity and hold their leaders accountable to their interests. The welfare state that was constructed in the financial ruins of the Great Depression through the New Deal has forever changed our lives for the better. Unfortunately, Frances Perkins, the woman who deserves most of the credit for expanding America's social contract has been wiped into the dustbin of irrelevance.

With the economic crisis becoming more dire every day, and President Obama's having recently appointed Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary, Frances Perkins is more relevant than ever. Both Hilda Solis and Frances Perkins were appointed to serve as Secretary of Labor during a time of economic crisis at critical moments in American History and share similar qualities in their character, background, and politics. The opportunity, as well as the peril, that this economic crisis presents the working men and women of America with is significant and must be recognized by all of us, most importantly, Hilda Solis. As a people's advocate in the new cabinet, Solis could seize the moment and aggressively push for bold, progressive responses to the mounting crisis. However, before we look towards the future, it's worth taking a look back to the past to Frances Perkins and the lessons we can learn from her time as Secretary of Labor.

Frances Perkins was appointed to Secretary of Labor in 1933 by President Roosevelt, becoming the first woman to hold a cabinet level position in American history. Perkin's came to the position of Secretary of Labor with an impressive record of protecting workers rights, women's rights, and fighting to eradicate poverty. Her work on behalf of women and the working class of America began in 1910 when she moved to New York City and became the head of the National Consumers League, an NGO whose mission is to "protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad." In 1911 she witnessed the Triangle Factory Fire, a seminal moment in her political development. Working conditions in the Triangle Factory were deplorable, resulting in a fire which took the lives of 146 young immigrant women, many jumping to their deaths trying to escape the fire because the exits were locked and there were no fire escapes. The factory fire had a profound effect on Frances Perkins and cemented her commitment to women's and workers rights. She explained that the fire "seared on my mind as well as my heart-a never-to-be-forgotten reminder of why I had to spend my life fighting conditions that could permit such a tragedy." Perkins served on the subsequent commissions assigned to investigate the fire and make sure similar incidents never happened again. She was instrumental in instituting reforms such as the use of fire alarms, fire drills, and fire escapes. In her pursuit of reform, Perkins was appointed to the New York State Industrial Commission in 1918, by Governor Al Smith, becoming the first woman ever to serve on the commission. She went on to become chairman of the commission in 1926.