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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202/219-6652 x139
Ida Castro, the new acting director of the Women's Bureau
of the U.S. Department of Labor, has vowed to continue the successful Working
Women Count Honor Roll program, launched on Labor Day 1995, and to activate and
energize all working women. Castro said she will also focus particular
attention on older women, very young women and women of color. The Bureau was
founded by Congress in 1920 with a mandate to "promote the welfare of
wage-earning women" and is the only federal agency designated to serve women in
the workforce.
Castro, an attorney who has been actively involved in
women's and labor issues throughout her career, has served at the Labor
Department since March 1994. Most recently, she has been acting deputy
solicitor. Previously, she was deputy assistant secretary for Workers'
Compensation Programs in the Employment Standards Administration -- the first
woman ever to head that office.
Castro was the first woman to join the Mayor's cabinet in
the Municipality of Carolina, Puerto Rico, as director of manpower; the first
woman to receive tenure at the Labor Education Center at Rutgers University's
Institute for Management and Labor Relations; founder and co-chair of the first
Hispanic women's organization in New Jersey; and the first Hispanic woman to
serve as deputy campaign manager in a successful mayoral race in New York City.
Throughout her career as a public servant, community
activist and labor lawyer she has participated in numerous labor, women's and
Hispanic organizations and built institutions that help make work better for
women.
"With her background and abilities, Ms. Castro is a
wonderful choice to continue the visible and highly effective work of the
Women's Bureau," said Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich.
"I am proud and excited to be at the Women's Bureau. I see
this as an opportunity to throw out the broadest net possible so that all women
can become actively involved in determining their futures at work," said
Castro.
Castro grew up in New York City with her mother Aurora, a
garment worker, and her father Ezequiel, a restaurant worker, now both retired.
She has one daughter, Isamar, who works in New York with women afflicted with
the AIDS virus.
Former director Karen Nussbaum left the Women's Bureau to
head the AFL-CIO's new Working Women's Department.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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