Marilyn Valenzuela, the executive secretary-treasurer of the Ventura-based Tri-County Central Labor Council, was thrilled today to be in the Assembly chambers being honored by Assemblyman Pedro Nava as the 35th District's "Woman of the Year."

But it was at least an equal thrill when she found out that a person she considers as perhaps America's "woman of the year" was also in Sacramento to speak to the honorees: newly sworn-in Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.

President Obama's appointment of Solis has been greated with unrestrained enthusiasm in the organized labor community, especially in California, where the former state legislator and congresswoman has established herself as a fierce friend of organized labor.

"I can't get the smile off my face," Valenzuela said of her reaction since Solis' nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Valenzuela says she remembers working side-by-side with Solis "in front of grocery stores" during a successful statewide campaign for a ballot initiative to raise the California minimum wage.

Solis is the first Latina to head the Labor Department, and her remarks during the annual ceremony that is part of Women's History Month focused on the progress of women. She noted that one of the first things she did in her new job was to have a portrait of Frances Perkins, the woman who was Franklin Roosevelt's secretary of Labor, retrieved from the archives and placed in her executive office suite.

"Secretary Perkins said once that the best advice she ever got was from her grandmother, who said, 'Whenever a door opens for you, walk through it.'"