Obama to Name Solis to Labor Post, Kirk as Trade Representative

By Kim Chipman and Mark Drajem

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama is set to wrap up his Cabinet choices by naming U.S. Representative Hilda Solis of California as his pick for labor secretary and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as trade representative, according to Democratic officials and people familiar with the transition.

Solis and Kirk are likely to be named by the president- elect today, along with Representative Ray LaHood, an Illinois Republican, as transportation secretary.

Solis, 51, is a four-term member of Congress with an extensive record on environmental issues and strong backing from labor unions. Kirk, now an attorney with the Dallas office of Vinson & Elkins, was Dallas’s first black mayor. He was an early supporter and fundraiser for Obama.

Obama is moving more quickly than any modern president- elect in lining up Cabinet secretaries and executives of Cabinet-level agencies. He is scheduled to hold a news conference at 2:15 p.m., New York time, today.

Solis, who grew up in a union household in Los Angeles County, is a favorite of labor groups, including the Service Employees International Union.

“We’re thrilled,” said SEIU President Andy Stern, who canvassed door-to-door with Solis when she first ran as a state senator. “She’s been as strong a voice for justice for SEIU workers like our janitors and homecare workers as we’ve ever had.”

Her legislative accomplishments include spearheading a bill to provide workers with training for “green-collar” employment. Such initiatives are a hallmark of Obama’s plan to address the country’s energy needs as well as create new jobs amid a recession.

Labor Battle

The new labor secretary will be in the middle of the battle over legislation, called the Employee Free Choice Act, aimed at making it easier for workers to unionize. The proposal would require employers to automatically recognize a union once a majority of workers sign up to join one. Current rules require a federally supervised election process.

The measure is organized labor’s top priority and faces strong opposition from businesses and Republicans, as well as some Democrats.

Critics say the law would deny employees a secret ballot election and make them vulnerable to union scare tactics. Supporters say company managers are the ones using intimidation to stop employees from organizing.

Solis, whose father was a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and mother a member of the United Rubber Workers, is an advocate of the so-called card check bill. Obama, who was supported by organized labor groups in the election, pledged in his campaign to fight for the measure.

No Surprise

The Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobby, is battling against the legislation. Randel Johnson, vice president for labor issues at the chamber, said the organization isn’t surprised by Obama’s pick of a labor ally.

“While we are obviously concerned about her support of the Employee Free Choice Act and her high rating by the AFL- CIO, these are positions consistent with the Obama administration,” Johnson said. “There is a new sheriff in town and we will work with her on some issues and oppose on some.”

She has also been an opponent of free-trade agreements, in step with union positions. Solis voted against a trade deal with Peru last year and against a Central American free trade accord in 2005. Obama also has been critical of trade accords, saying during the primary campaign that he wanted to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement among the U.S., Canada and Mexico to include more protection for U.S. workers.

Trade Backer

Those positions set up a contrast with Kirk, who will be the lead U.S. official responsible for negotiating global and individual trade agreements, pressing other nations to rescind barriers to exports and investment, and litigating cases at the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

After his election as mayor of Dallas in 1995, Kirk vowed to make the city the “capital of Nafta,” according to news stories at that time.

While Kirk doesn’t have broad international stature such as former USTR Robert Zoellick, President George W. Bush’s first appointee to the job, he has one key strength.

“Members of Congress, whose support he will need on a raft of trade issues facing the new administration, are comfortable working with a USTR who has held elected office,” said Cal Cohen, head of the Emergency Committee for American Trade, which represents large U.S. exporters. “They see him as a fellow politician, as one of their own, which will be a tremendous advantage.”

The selection of LaHood, who is retiring from Congress after seven terms, was reported earlier this week. He would be the second Republican in a top administration post, along with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is staying on from the Bush administration.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Chicago at kchipman@bloomberg.net; Mark Drajem in Washington at mdrajem@bloomberg.net