Secretary of Labour: Hilda Solis

One of only four women in Obama's aministration (including Susan Rice, the Ambassador to the United Nations), 51-year-old Latina Hilda Solis is a popular choice. Harold Meyerson writes in American Prospect magazine: "What does [Solis] bring to the job? Only a record of passionate commitment to working people, a high level of political smarts, and some genuine displays of raw guts that could make her a star of American liberalism." With her scepticism of free trade agreements, labour representatives are delighted about Solis's new power, though large businesses are worried that the Californian Congresswoman's focus on workers' rights will hinder businesses already crippled by the recession.

FIRST POSTED JANUARY 6, 2009