Books about Hispanics and work highlighted for Hispanic Heritage Month as part of Labor Department's Books that Shaped Work in America project

The Web-based project, http://www.dol.gov/books, aims to engage the public about the Labor Department's mission and America's history as a nation of workers as portrayed through published works. It serves as an online resource library where people from all walks of life can share books that informed them about occupations and careers, molded their views about work and helped elevate the discourse about work, workers and workplaces.

"The Books that Shaped Work in America project reflects upon the promise of opportunity for all workers," said Carl Fillichio, the department's senior advisor for communications and public affairs. "To fulfill this promise, we celebrate and recognize the contributions that Hispanic workers have made to our country's success since its inception."

The new additions to the list, including Elizabeth R. Escobedo's "From Coveralls to Zoot Suits," and Juana Borda's "The Power of Latino Leadership," celebrate the role of Hispanic workers in helping build our nation. These books advocate for the acknowledgement of Hispanic workers as important members of our nation's workforce and for shared prosperity for all workers. Gabriel Thompson's "Working in the Shadows," for example, exposes an often unseen and largely ignored side of the American economy, one where Hispanic agricultural workers are subjected to dangerous conditions and engage in physically taxing work — the fruits of which are enjoyed by most Americans with little regard for the workers who harvested them.

Work, like our nation, is constantly evolving, and Books that Shaped Work in America is no different. To get it started, 24 individuals, including U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez, eight former secretaries of labor from Democratic and Republican administrations, civil rights leaders, authors and media personalities, submitted suggestions for the list and wrote brief essays on how those literary works impacted their lives.

This month the department added recommendations from new contributors Maria Hinojosa, anchor and reporter for PBS and NPR; Cristina Tzintzún, executive director of Workers Defense Project; and Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino.