Hilda Solis, a San Gabriel Valley native who went from being a hotel housekeeper to the White House's Secretary of Labor, announced her resignation from the Obama administration cabinet position today.

Solis is rumored to be eyeing a run for the powerful Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, where longtime Eastside representative Gloria Molina is terming out next year after more than two-decades in that office.

Maria Elena Durazo, the all-powerful boss of the county Federation of Labor, had this to say in a statement sent to the Weekly and other outlets this afternoon:

From the hotel housekeeper on her hands and knees scrubbing floors, to an ironworker walking a beam forty stories in the air, America's working men and women had a voice, a friend, and a champion in Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Labor Secretary Solis never lost touch with the fact that she was the daughter of immigrant factory workers, who like generations of immigrants before them, joined the union to help lift themselves from poverty.

While we will deeply miss her as Secretary of Labor, we know that whatever she chooses to do, she will remain a strong advocate for workers.

Solis was an SGV-East Los Angeles congresswoman from 2001 to 2009 who, before that, had held seats in the California state legislature.

President Obama said this today:

Over her long career in public service – as an advocate for environmental justice in California, state legislator, member of Congress and Secretary of Labor – Hilda Solis has been a tireless champion for working families. Over the last four years, Secretary Solis has been a critical member of my economic team as we have worked to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and strengthen the economy for the middle class. Her efforts have helped train workers for the jobs of the future, protect workers' health and safety and put millions of Americans back to work. I am grateful to Secretary Solis for her steadfast commitment and service not only to the Administration, but on behalf of the American people. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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